Hanover donned their fresh yellows to play the visiting red Mt. Royal
Academy of Sunapee, NH, and earned a satisfying 2-0 victory. With both teams arriving in personal vehicles
rather than bus, there was quite the fanfare for the game. It was also a
pleasant to see former reserve coach, Brian Benoit, officiating the
game. The game kicked off with sunny weather and cool fall conditions on a holiday Friday.
Hanover started with possession of the ball and were able to advance
field position quickly. Using their disciplined passing structure of
short to long, fullbacks and midfielders have been able to keep the
attacking third. This created the first of Hanover's goals. After
collecting the ball from the midfield, Tenzin Tashi possessed the ball
on the eighteen where he was tackled off the ball. Francesco Navarro won
possession and took a cool collected touch to his left before blasting
it with his right foot to beat the keeper in the 10th minute. It wasn't
long before Hanover struck again in the 23rd minute on the foot of
Alassandro Vasconi. On a ball that squeaked through after an interplay
on the left side, Alassandro found himself open with no one on his
shooting foot and buried it from ten yards.
Hanover's stingy defense and excellent goalkeeping allowed them to post
their first shutout of the year. Anchored by Gabe Loud, the defense was
able to create five offsides calls by keep form. Arturo Johnson had six
saves in the goal, advanced on long through balls, and saw the ball to his chest on
multiple long balls in. As a whole Hanover's team defense has been
extraordinary in being able to maintain pressure on the opposition and
maintain field position. Hanover only allowed one corner and took four,
by being able to win the field position battle.
Avery Wallis had several standout plays defensively, including one where a Mount Royal striker beat an onrushing Johnson, but had his shot (probably headed to goal) cleared at the last minute. Dimitri Somoff demonstrated great two way play, getting forward to support the offense by always making it back in time to defend.
Goalkeeper/Scribe Johnson commented, "Once again,
Gabe Loud played like the wall he is, and Wilson Rimberg was always
open for the play. Daniel Wilson (our newly instituted backup goalie),
kept his role of defense yesterday, and maintained his position well,
along with Gwynn Granizo-Mackenzie, who returned to the field after
sitting out the KUA game due to an injury. Great teamwork in the
midfield and on the front line also contributed strongly to our success."
Other scoring chances included Kaz Matsuoka blasting on in the first
half that sailed about three feet over the crossbar. There was an excellent ball
to the eighteen from Sam Lutz that nearly found Benny Gantrish open to
goal in the middle of the second half. Tenzin Tashi had a low hard ball
saved by Mt. Royal's diving keeper shortly thereafter. Kaz would follow
up with a late chance of flipping up the ball over the keep only to have
it knocked aside.
The Marauders return to practice on Tuesday afternoon to prepare for their busiest week of the season, with three games, starting on Wednesday with a road trip to Kimball Union.
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