Saturday's cold fall rain at Nashua South presaged Hanover's 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Purple Panthers. During a scoreless first half, the gloomy clouds gathered. Then the rains came, and after coughing up two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half, the Marauders were forced the chase the game, and they never caught up, surrendering a third goal before pulling back a token sore by Avery Kravitz in the dying minutes of the game.
The loss dropped Hanover out of first place in the NHIAA Division One standings, and broke an unbeaten streak that stretched back to November, 2012. Ah, but it could have been much worse. The Marauders kept their cool in the face of systematic unsporting play by their opponents, who earned two yellow cards, and should have been shown several more. Nashua South got the win they wanted, but their inability to honor the game in the process will cost them far more in the long run. Hanover stayed composed and classy to the bitter end, and if they are able to learn the lessons offered, perhaps the soccer gods will reward them in the postseason.
The game started pretty well for Hanover, which outshot Nashua South by a 10-1 margin, and had several gilt-edged chances to score in the first 40 minutes. They would long to have any one of them back before the day was over. After a perfunctory 10 opening minutes, Jonah Levine cranked a shot form distance that was at the very least a fair warning. Minutes later, Jamie Dinulos walked the tightrope on the left endline and hit a great shot from point blank range that goalkeeper Christpher Jiminez, a busy man all day, managed to save. Asa Berolzheimer tried to bundle in the rebound, but it was not to be. Midway through the half, Avery Kravitz, on for Tim Alibozek on the right wing, and was spring for a clean breakaway, and got a good, hard shot on goal that forced Jiminez to make a spectacular diving save. Seth Stadheim was sniffing for the rebound, but it didn't fall his way.
Nashua South had several free kick opportunities given to them, but were unable to sustain any sort of coherent attack, although by now it was clear that this team was a long way from its doormat status in recent years. They were big, confident and cocky, and coming off of a 4-0 win in their last game.
Still, Hanover was getting the lion's share of possession and territory.
Jonah Levine was the next Marauder to come close to scoring, stealing a flaccid flat pass and breaking in on Jiminez. His hard, low shot was saved, and the ensuing corner was ineffective. Jonah then almost converted a cross from Andrew Kazal, and then Ian Caldwell stole a ball and ran through the box, missing his short side shot into the side netting with Dinulos begging at the far post. The half ended scoreless, but Hanover came off the pitch confident, knowing that the next goal would surely be theirs.
Unfortunately, the roof fell in, and quickly at that, as the opportunistic Panthers made their own chances and finished with ruthless efficiency in the opening minutes of the half. Less than two minutes in, Ryan Guidaboni, who was a torn in Hanover's side all day, tracked down Luke Strohbehn when he was slow to clear the ball, stripped him, and fed it to a streaking Mauricio Acevedo, who raced into the box and deposited a hard shot to the corner that gave Konrad Mitchell no chance.
Six minutes later, South doubled their lead, counterattacking after a Hanover free kick went right into the hands of Jiminez, who quickly set up Kevin Batista Dos Santos on the right flank. Dos Santos lofted a cross to the left that settled over the top of defenders Max Greenwald and Adam Pikelny, and was collected on the run by Srishall Thopa, who cut back to his right, beat both backs, and hit the corner with a professional finish.
Hanover stayed composed, even as Nashua South's time-wasting tactics began early. It was like seeing the Christmas stuff in CVS before Halloween. With 20 minutes to play, Hanover began playing their best soccer of the day, and a comeback seemed still believable. Jonah Levine saw his low shot roll just past the left post after a good sequence, and then Ian Caldwell's shot after a corner kick was blocked. After a good Konrad Mitchell save on a counterattack, Caldwell's brilliant cross set up Alibozek for a hard left footed shot on not. Even with only 12 minutes left, all Hanover needed was their first break.
Then, disaster. Hanover gave away an unnecessary foul in the right corner, and the ensuing free kick found Daniel Dukeshire in the box, and his header gave Nashua South seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead. Still Hanover kept playing well, and working to get a goal. Several Marauder free kicks and corners were disappointingly ineffective. Caldwell made a great run into the box and was fouled 1/16th on an inch outside the penalty area, but the resulting free kick was airmailed by Asa Berolzheimer. Avery Kravitz topped that with a drive from the top of the box that landed one exit up the busy highway. Then Kravitz finally connected to pull a goal back, sinishing a nice sequence from Dinulos to Stadheim to Levine and to Avery for his first varsity goal.
Hanover was well into injury time, appropriately awarded to compensate for Nashua South's unsporting time wasting. Jamie Dinulos hit a great shot that was saved for a corner, and then Alibozek was wide past the post with his best shot of the day after a patient buildup. Acker skied a right footer over the bar, bravely taken, and the three tweets sounded to end the match.
The value of the lessons learned on this disappointing day will be manifest next time out on Tuesday's road trip to Salem, so it won't take long to see if Saturday's result was a portent or an aberration.
Hanover made all the right moves after the final whistle, allowing Nashua South to savor their win without a single bitter word, never pointing fingers or finding fault or suggesting a new formation or a better brand of GU. There were mistakes aplenty on the day but mistakes are correctable. No September loss has ever been fatal in futbol, and the bus to Salem loads in less than 24 hours. Bring it on.
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