Although they had played well enough to win in each of their last three matches, the end results for the Marauders had been a tie, followed by two losses. They had not won since Sept. 16th at Salem, and that's a long stretch for any team. Thus it was quite a relief for Hanover to play superb defense and get timely scoring at the same time, beating Manchester Memorial 3-0. The Marauders had kept the faith during the drought, and worked hard to focus on improvement, and not results. Against Memorial, that improvement manifested itself in a sweet shutout by Konrad Mitchell and his crew of dedicated defenders, and three good-looking goals.
Tuesday's game was Hanover's third road game in a row, but the Marauders made themselves right at home on the vast expanse of field turf at Chabot-McDonough Field at Memorial. They dodged a huge bullet in the first five minutes of the match, when Memorial star Santiago Rodriguez worked free for a shot at the top of the Hanover penalty area. The curving drive was headed for the upper left corner, but Mitchell launched into a full-out dive to his right, and flicked the ball over the bar.
That shot ended up being Memorial's only one of the first half, as the Hanover defense buckled down and denied the Crusaders, led by center backs Luke Strohbehn and Max Greenwald. The Marauders also got a boost from junior Tim Alibozek, who filled in at right back for ailing Cian Kelly and gave his team 60 minutes of airtight defense.
Hanover began to dominate at midfield, led by the troika of Asa Berolzheimer, Jonah Levine and Ian Caldwell, and they slowly began to draw a bead on the Memorial goal. A thrust down the left flank by Jamie Dinulos gave the Marauders a corner kick, and they unveiled a play they had been working on for the past week, and had polished to perfection at their Monday evening practice session. Berolzheimer and Dinulous worked a short corner kick that allowed Jamie to work free on the baseline, and he shot a short-range centering pass into the mixer. The ball popped loose to Ian Caldwell, and Bucket made no mistake, ramming the ball home for a 1-0 lead.
Throughout the first half, the Marauders went to their bench frequently, with Henry Allison spelling Avery Kravitz on the right wing, Noah Kahan working well up top in place of Seth Stadheim, and Josh Wallace and Jake Acker getting time in the middle of the park. Hanover earned four more corner kicks and made them dangerous, with Acker hitting a potent pair. Even though they didn't score, Hanover stayed on the front foot and set themselves up for a dominant second half.
The Marauders made good on their perpetual promise to themselves to come out strong after the interval, and ended up outshooting Memorial 10-1. It took a while for concrete results, but Hanover was knocking on the door from the outset. Stadheim ripped a centering pass from the left side that was intercepted by Crusader goalkeeper Ray Ripaldi. Dinulous worked free on a left to right run that resulted in a high, hard shot that Ripaldi saved superbly. Allison broke free on the right flank and ripped a shot that caromed off the right post. Will Smith and Chris Powell were poised for the rebound, but it was scooped away by a defender.
Finally, with ten minutes to play, Noah Kahan slotted a well-deserved insurance goal, taking a lead pass from Avery Kravitz and burying the ball to Ripaldi's left. Kahan sprinted to the corner flag and some (less mature) hopes were high for an epic cele, but (fortunately) he had second thoughts at the right time. Hanover had played nine games without a yellow card, and now that streak stretched to ten. Two minutes from time, Jake Acker slid a lead pass through the middle for Chris Powell, who sauntered in on a slo-mo solo run and collected his first career goal.
The Marauders will have little time to celebrate. Having dispatched a talented team with a losing record, they now return home for a Wednesday game against a vastly improved Nashua North team that has beaten Salem, Alvirne and Keene. Now 6-3-1, Hanover has a chance climb back into the upper reaches of a Division One logjam in the standings. It will take one of their best games of the season, but they are more than capable of doing this, having kept their heads during a stretch of tough sledding. Stay tuned!
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