HANOVER AND LEBANON BATTLE TO A CLASSIC DRAW
Hanover and Lebanon added another chapter to their amazing soccer history Tuesday night, battling to a 1-1 draw that entertained a huge crowd at Merriman-Branch Field. Hanover dominated statistically and took a 1-0 lead into the last 10 minutes of the match, but Lebanon took advantage of one of their very few scoring opportunities to tie the game, and neither team could dent the net in overtime. Both head into the postseason as threats to advance to the later rounds.
Lebanon showed no fear in the early moments of the match, and while their forays into the Hanover end produced no shots, it was clear that they were determined not to sit back in their own end. As the half continued, however, Hanover turned up the heat, and produced a number of scoring chances. The Marauders actually hit the woodwork four separate times, with Casey Maue, Matt Wetherell and Angus Kennedy (twice!) connecting with the upright or crossbar. Finally, Casey Maue connected, taking a nice pass from Eric Barthold on the left flank and patiently working for a short range shot in the 34th minute.
Hanover kept the pressure up in the second half, and only some outstanding saves by Lebanon goalkeeper Andrew Kelley kept the Marauders at bay. Kelly made a dazzling dive to his right to knock a laser from Matt Wetherell out of the corner, and denied Barthold several times. Cal Felicetti had a near miss from close range, and a deflected header by Eric Jayne drifted wide. Lebanon counterattacked effectively several times, and it took some first-rate tackling by Sam Peterson and Trevor Barlowe to blunt several dangerous Raider forays. Hanover goalie Ben Harwick did a nice job blocking a hard drive by Esteban Estrada that represented the first actual shot on goal by Lebanon.
As the ten-minute mark approached, the Raiders struck suddenly. A silly foul gave Lebanon a free kick outside the Hanover penalty area, and leading scorer MacKenzie Higgens lifted a superb free kick into the box, beyond the reach of Harwick but perfectly in the path of a streaking Merhawi Wells-Bouge, who headed it into the right corner to tie the match. Neither team mounted an effective attack as time wound down in regulation, and the match headed into overtime. Amazingly, this became the fourth game between the two teams to go to overtime in the space of a calendar year.
Hanover regained the offensive initiative in overtime, outshooting the Raiders 4-0 and coming heartbreakingly close in the second 10-minute session when Barthold broke in alone on goal, only to be denied by a sprawling save by Kelly at close range. Raider Coach Rob Johnstone played his “happy to tie” card in the last minute, making a substitution to kill the clock, and the match that began on a warm autumn afternoon ended on a frosty night under the sliver of a waxing harvest moon.
There were several unique aspects to the match. Lured by both history and the sheer attractiveness of the match, the crowd was estimated at over 750, making it the largest in Branch-Merriman field’s young history, including all three Hanover home football games. The crowd came bearing food, and the successful food drive for the Upper Valley Haven will no doubt become an annual event as the Marauders continued their relentless effort to combine great soccer with good citizenship.
Speculation about playoff matchups is a dangerous endeavor. However, there are some intriguing possibilities suggested by elementary bracketology. The Marauders look likely to nail down the number one seed with win Friday at Monadnock, and if the Raiders win at Kearsarge they will end up fifth in the NHIAA standings. If both teams win their first-round fixtures, Lebanon will probably earn a road trip to Oyster River, and it’s possible that Hanover might host Souhegan for a rematch of their rousing regular season game. Say for a minute that the Marauders can hold off a determined Saber side, and Lebanon pulls off a road win at Oyster River, That would mean a semifinal matchup between two foes who would be meeting for the tenth time in three years. That would be unprecedented in NH high school soccer history, but only fitting between two rivals who have somehow redefined the meaning of that word. Caution, sports fans. That is risky speculation, and there is a long way to go. For now, as a special season draws to a close, it’s fun to speculate before the hard realities of this cruel game impose themselves. On to the playoffs!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Oct. 20, Saturday, Jr. Varsity Soccer "Tournament"
Schedule for JV Tournament at Oyster River HS, Durham
Bus leaves at 9:00 am
12:00 - 1:30 - Boy's Games
OR vs. Pembroke
St.Thomas vs. Hanover
Time TBD - Girl's Games
OR vs. Souhegan
Hanover vs. St. Thomas
2:00 - 3:30 - Boy's Games
Winners on varsity field
Losers on J.V. field
Time TBD - Girl's Games
Winners on varsity field
Losers on J.V. field
For Directions to Oyster River HS look here
Bus leaves at 9:00 am
12:00 - 1:30 - Boy's Games
OR vs. Pembroke
St.Thomas vs. Hanover
Time TBD - Girl's Games
OR vs. Souhegan
Hanover vs. St. Thomas
2:00 - 3:30 - Boy's Games
Winners on varsity field
Losers on J.V. field
Time TBD - Girl's Games
Winners on varsity field
Losers on J.V. field
For Directions to Oyster River HS look here
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Directions to Monadnock High School, Swanzey
Turn right to merge onto I-91 S
Take exit 5 toward US-5/Westminster/Walpole N.H.
Turn left at I-91 Access Rd/Westminster St Hwy
Continue to follow Westminster St Hwy
Turn right at US-5
Slight left at VT-123
Turn left to stay on VT-123
Entering New Hampshire
Turn right at Bellows Rd/RT-12
Continue to follow RT-12
Turn left at RT-10/RT-101/RT-12
Continue to follow RT-101/RT-12
Turn right at Main St/RT-12
Turn right at Old Homestead Hwy/RT-32
Monadnock Regional High School
580 Old Homestead Hwy, Swanzey, NH 03446
You can click on the maps to enlarge and then print.
To print the directions use your cursor to highlight the text. Then copy and paste it into a word processing program.
or
Put the address of Souhegan High School (listed above) into Google Maps to get directions you can print out.
Manchester Union Leader October 17, 2007
DRAWING FROM THE GAME
By ERIC EMMERLING
New Hampshire Union Leader Sports
YOSEF OSHEYACK doesn't remember much of his early childhood. At the age of 7, he was just too young to fully comprehend what transpired after his parents' death.
A survival instinct probably had something to do with the fuzzy memory. After all, he suddenly found himself being uprooted from relatives and a familiar culture and sent aboard his first-ever airplane ride to, what was for him, an unknown destination.
At the time Yosef Osheyack could recall two important revelations.
"I didn't know I was deaf until I came to America and got a hearing aid in a hospital," said Osheyack, who, with his younger brother Dan, came to Norwich, Vt., to live with an adoptive family.
And in his new home, just as in his home country, Ethiopia, they played soccer.
Without soccer, Osheyack, now a junior striker and leading scorer for two-time defending champion Hanover -- presently riding a 21-game win streak -- doesn't know how he would have ever dealt with the challenges he's overcome. And at first, even soccer posed a burden.
"I could remember playing soccer in Ethiopia, but I had no idea what the rules were or what it meant to be on a team. Here, I wanted to quit, but my (adopted) mom wouldn't let me. Now that's why I like it," said Osheyack, a two-year varsity veteran who has netted 11 goals and six assists for the 13-0-1 Marauders this season.
He felt different and yearned to be just like everyone else. The soccer pitch helped him assimilate. It was where players basically expressed themselves with a ball rather than English words he couldn't understand or hear.
Teammates became off-the-field friends, helping him fit in at the school cafeteria and hallways. They also adopted an on-the-field language of gestures, glances and hand signals. Osheyack started playing soccer year-round and became quite good.
"I can't hear here," he said pointing to his ears, "But I can hear with my eyes by reading players in their eyes and knowing what they are doing. I can read lips and also I can hear a little bit. All of this helps," said Osheyack, who is about 90 percent deaf.
He spent several summers learning sign language and lip reading at the Austine School for the Deaf at Brattleboro, Vt. He's also learned to differentiate sound while wearing his hearing aid, which -- save rainy days -- he wears while competing.
Running track and playing basketball helped him develop athletically. Coping strategies for deafness helped him fine-tune a soccer intuition that keeps him a step ahead of other players.
"He doesn't know how good he is and probably won't until he's playing college soccer," said Hanover coach Robert Grabill.
"He makes runs off the ball that are too sophisticated for his teammates and sometimes those watching. He runs east and west looking for holes. He holds back and when he runs through he's so far ahead of everyone else it looks like he's offside, but he isn't. It can be frustrating, but he just shakes his head and plays on."
He's also worked hard off the pitch to earn near honor roll grades while mastering classroom challenges presented to him in a second language he has troubles hearing. He routinely seeks tutorial assistance.
"When I came here I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea. No clue. When I got here I had to learn everything, even about America. It was tough," said Osheyack.
He arrived here during the winter, having never known cold temperatures or seen snow in Ethiopia. Since then he's had to move in with another family while learning to deal with seasonal weather, the English language and American culture. Within four years, as a fifth-grader, he started feeling comfortable.
"In Ethiopia I was like ...," he paused for a moment to collect himself. "I was all alone after my parents died." He can't recall when or how they died, only that he spent some time living with an aunt before being flown to America.
"And I've had to work at everything," he said. "That's why soccer is fun for me. When I play I never give in to being tired. All I know is working hard."
In Ethiopia, Osheyack played pickup soccer on a dirt field. The game lasted until it was time to quit. This was a far cry from what he encountered in the US playing on school and club teams, wearing spiffy uniforms, playing on manicured pitches where people take winning, losing, officiating -- even playing time -- pretty seriously.
"It's not that he doesn't take the game seriously, it's just that he is very centered," said Grabill, who offered an example of Osheyack's work ethic.
"He's very persistent chasing the ball," said the Marauder mentor. "Some kids will just quit when they lose the ball, but he comes back -- and with a vengeance. He certainly possesses an ability to finish."
Osheyack wants to remain in America, a country possessing more options, choices and opportunities than Ethiopia. "It's safer here, too. They don't fight wars here," he said.
He no longer speaks Amhark, the Ethiopian language, but occasionally corresponds with three older brothers and a sister still living there. He's hoping to organize a homecoming in 2010.
"You know why I picked that year," he asked with a smile. South Africa is the 2010 FIFA World Cup host. "With me, it's all about soccer."
By ERIC EMMERLING
New Hampshire Union Leader Sports
YOSEF OSHEYACK doesn't remember much of his early childhood. At the age of 7, he was just too young to fully comprehend what transpired after his parents' death.
A survival instinct probably had something to do with the fuzzy memory. After all, he suddenly found himself being uprooted from relatives and a familiar culture and sent aboard his first-ever airplane ride to, what was for him, an unknown destination.
At the time Yosef Osheyack could recall two important revelations.
"I didn't know I was deaf until I came to America and got a hearing aid in a hospital," said Osheyack, who, with his younger brother Dan, came to Norwich, Vt., to live with an adoptive family.
And in his new home, just as in his home country, Ethiopia, they played soccer.
Without soccer, Osheyack, now a junior striker and leading scorer for two-time defending champion Hanover -- presently riding a 21-game win streak -- doesn't know how he would have ever dealt with the challenges he's overcome. And at first, even soccer posed a burden.
"I could remember playing soccer in Ethiopia, but I had no idea what the rules were or what it meant to be on a team. Here, I wanted to quit, but my (adopted) mom wouldn't let me. Now that's why I like it," said Osheyack, a two-year varsity veteran who has netted 11 goals and six assists for the 13-0-1 Marauders this season.
He felt different and yearned to be just like everyone else. The soccer pitch helped him assimilate. It was where players basically expressed themselves with a ball rather than English words he couldn't understand or hear.
Teammates became off-the-field friends, helping him fit in at the school cafeteria and hallways. They also adopted an on-the-field language of gestures, glances and hand signals. Osheyack started playing soccer year-round and became quite good.
"I can't hear here," he said pointing to his ears, "But I can hear with my eyes by reading players in their eyes and knowing what they are doing. I can read lips and also I can hear a little bit. All of this helps," said Osheyack, who is about 90 percent deaf.
He spent several summers learning sign language and lip reading at the Austine School for the Deaf at Brattleboro, Vt. He's also learned to differentiate sound while wearing his hearing aid, which -- save rainy days -- he wears while competing.
Running track and playing basketball helped him develop athletically. Coping strategies for deafness helped him fine-tune a soccer intuition that keeps him a step ahead of other players.
"He doesn't know how good he is and probably won't until he's playing college soccer," said Hanover coach Robert Grabill.
"He makes runs off the ball that are too sophisticated for his teammates and sometimes those watching. He runs east and west looking for holes. He holds back and when he runs through he's so far ahead of everyone else it looks like he's offside, but he isn't. It can be frustrating, but he just shakes his head and plays on."
He's also worked hard off the pitch to earn near honor roll grades while mastering classroom challenges presented to him in a second language he has troubles hearing. He routinely seeks tutorial assistance.
"When I came here I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea. No clue. When I got here I had to learn everything, even about America. It was tough," said Osheyack.
He arrived here during the winter, having never known cold temperatures or seen snow in Ethiopia. Since then he's had to move in with another family while learning to deal with seasonal weather, the English language and American culture. Within four years, as a fifth-grader, he started feeling comfortable.
"In Ethiopia I was like ...," he paused for a moment to collect himself. "I was all alone after my parents died." He can't recall when or how they died, only that he spent some time living with an aunt before being flown to America.
"And I've had to work at everything," he said. "That's why soccer is fun for me. When I play I never give in to being tired. All I know is working hard."
In Ethiopia, Osheyack played pickup soccer on a dirt field. The game lasted until it was time to quit. This was a far cry from what he encountered in the US playing on school and club teams, wearing spiffy uniforms, playing on manicured pitches where people take winning, losing, officiating -- even playing time -- pretty seriously.
"It's not that he doesn't take the game seriously, it's just that he is very centered," said Grabill, who offered an example of Osheyack's work ethic.
"He's very persistent chasing the ball," said the Marauder mentor. "Some kids will just quit when they lose the ball, but he comes back -- and with a vengeance. He certainly possesses an ability to finish."
Osheyack wants to remain in America, a country possessing more options, choices and opportunities than Ethiopia. "It's safer here, too. They don't fight wars here," he said.
He no longer speaks Amhark, the Ethiopian language, but occasionally corresponds with three older brothers and a sister still living there. He's hoping to organize a homecoming in 2010.
"You know why I picked that year," he asked with a smile. South Africa is the 2010 FIFA World Cup host. "With me, it's all about soccer."
Monday, October 15, 2007
Varsity vs Souhegan, Sept 13
Hanover Wins Souhegan Staredown 2-1
The Hanover boys took another important step toward postseason with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a strong Souhegan team on Saturday night. Goals by Casey Maue and Matt Wetherell and superb Marauder defense paved the way for Hanover’s 13th victory of the season, extending their two-year unbeaten streak to 21 games and maintaining their hold on the top of the table in Class I. The game, pitting two of New Hampshire’s perennial powers, had a playoff feel to it, and produced superb soccer on both sides of the ball.
Souhegan’s 9-5 record entering the game was deceiving. The Sabres play the toughest schedule in Class I, facing every top team, most of them twice. Although their regular season record sometimes suffers as a result, few teams will be better prepared for postseason play, and no one will want to see Souhegan in their bracket.
Hanover took their task seriously, however, and was more than ready for every challenge they faced from the Sabers. The first half was mostly a midfield affair, with each side playing strong defense. Hanover held an edge in play thanks to some excellent passing up front from strikers Casey Maue and Yosef Oshyack, and midfielders Angus Kennedy, Aussie Cyrus and Erik Barthold. Hanover’s best chances early on came from the outside, with Angus Kennedy grazing the crossbar on one free kick and blasting a second restart into the Souhegan defensive wall. The Sabres spent less time in Hanover’s end, but one foray was a dangerous one, with striker Tim Eagan breaking free for a shot that should have found paydirt. With the half winding down, Casey Maue’s hard work paid off when he won a ball in the box and worked free for a short shot that gave the Marauders a 1-0 lead with less than a minute to play in the half.
Hanover anticipated a strong push from Souhegan in the second half, but it was the Marauders who turned up the heat on their hosts, generating a number of good scoring chance in search of their second goal. Strong shots by Osheyack and Kennedy forced Souhegan goalie Jeremy Burrows to make some excellent saves. Ben Rimmer and Paul Burchard made great two-way contributions at midfield, and Kennedy was a two-way monster all night long.
Back in the Hanover end, the back four of Cal Felicetti, Matt Wetherell, Trevor Barlowe and Sam Peterson were ruling the air and doing a great job containing Souhegan’s attack, particularly speedy All-State midfielder Jonathan Harris, whose father was coached by HHS Coach Grabill 25 years ago. As the game wound down toward the ten-,minute mark, it looked as though Hanover might be content to play out the string and claim their first 1-0 win of the year. Harris had other ideas, however, breaking free on the right flank and coming in clean on the Hanover goal. Ben Harwick slid out and made a sliding save on Harris, but the ball popped free and striker Jesse Anderson was first to the ball, tying the game at 1-1.
With every reason to be frustrated, the Marauders wasted no time regaining the lead. Shortly after the kickoff, a foul gave Hanover a free kick forty yards out, and Angus Kennedy lofted a ball into the Sougehan penalty area, where a determined Matt Wetherell headed it home for his fourth goal of the season and a 2-1 lead. This one-goal advantage seemed safe, and as the clock wound down it was again Hanover pressing for more. The win was a very satisfying one, and gave the Marauders confidence that they wil be able to handle whatever the postseason hands out when the Class I tournament kicks off.
Hanover closes out the regular season this week with Tuesday’s derby with Lebanon and a road trip to Monadnock, a team fighting for a tournament berth. Then it’s time for the second season.
SAVE THE DATE, Thurs November 8
We are planning an end-of season soccer celebration for all four teams on Thursday, November 8th from 7:00 - 8:30 at the Hanover High School cafeteria. We did this last year, and it was a great way for all of the players and parents in the program to recognize the successes of the Hanover High teams. The format will include a pot-luck dessert buffet woth coffee and soft drinks. The emphasis will be on brevity, which should still allow every player to receive apropriate recognition. Please save this date, and plan to attend. Younger siblings are welcome. There will be plenty of dessert to go around, and a paucity of long-winded speeches. Further details will be announced soon.
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