Boy's & Girls Varsity Dinner

The Boy's and Girl's Varsity are having a joint team dinner at Pierce's Inn in Etna on Monday, October 29 at 6:00 pm. (time to be confirmed - please check back)

Players should dress appropriately and bring $20.

Players only.

Directions (From Hanover Green)
From Wheelock Street, turn left on College Street
Continue through traffic light onto Rte 10 North (Lyme Road)
Go 3.4 miles and turn right at Pineo Hill Rd
Bear left at Dogford Rd
Turn right to stay on Dogford Rd
Pierce's Inn is at 261 Dogford Road
(603) 643-2997

Haven Food Drive a Success

Dear players, coaches, friends, and fans of Hanover soccer-

Thanks to all who helped make the Food Drive for The Haven at the Hanover –Lebanon girls and boys soccer games on October 16th such a success. In addition to his comments in the Spectator article this week about the Hanover –Lebanon games, Tom Ketteridge of The Haven sent us the thank you note below. It gives you an idea of the generosity displayed by all of those associated with this effort, and just how many people can be helped by a collective effort like this. As they say out on the "pitch", "well done..."

October 23, 2007

"Thanks so much for... collecting food for The Haven during the Lebanon –Hanover soccer doubleheader. Nearly 300 pounds of food was collected for our food shelf, which provides a weeks' worth of groceries to an average of 16 families each day.

Regards,

Tom Ketteridge"

Varsity vs Coe Brown, Oct 23, 1st Round of Playoffs

Hanover Celebrates Senior Night With NHIAA Win

The Hanover boys opened their NHIA Class I Tournament campaign with a systematic 2-0 victory over a hard-working Coe-brown team. The match was preceded with a brief ceremony to honor the 12 seniors on the squad, and all 12 celebrated in their own fashion during the game, as every one got on the pitch and contributed to the win.

The Marauders quickly established a territorial edge and came close to scoring almost immediately, as Casey Maue took a nice pass from Angus Kennedy in close quarters and clanged a shot off the right post. Maue was a threat in the box all evening, and Kennedy was equally dangerous from outside the 18. Coe-Brown goalkeeper Skylar Speed was equal to the task, making several nice saves to keep the match scoreless. Hanover broke through in the 28th minute, with Eric Barthold working his magic on the left flank, blasting a shot that Speed saved but was unable to hold. Maue blasted home the rebound for his ninth goal of the season, with Barthold collecting his team-leading ninth helper.

Hanover’s one-goal lead was not that slim, given the solid play of the Marauder back four, who limited Coe-Brown to one long-distance bid on Ben Harwick. Matt Wetherell and Cal Felicetti were imposing in the air, and Angus Kennedy kept up his relentless ball-winning at midfield.

Hanover resumed the attack after the break, and doubled the lead after eleven minutes with one of the nicest scores of the season. The Marauders were awarded a free kick outside of the Coe-Brown penalty area, and Angus Kennedy bent a shot around the wall and inside the near post for 2-0 lead. It was Kennedy’s ninth goal of the season and eighth in the last seven games. Paired with Maue, who has a four-game scoring streak, and it appears that Hanover’s captains are stepping up at just the right time.

The best way to hold a 2-0 lead is to keep attacking, and the Marauders followed that pattern, taking advantage of several goal-hungry seniors. Erik Barth played well in both halves at center midfield, and had several good looks at the goal. Dylan Riessen enhanced his status at the most snake-bitten sniper on the team, blasting a close range bullet that was somehow blocked on the goal line. Oliver Horton showed his ability to fill Kennedy’s shoes at midfield, and Paul Burchard shook off a sore back to help close out the match.

Harwick made another solo save in the half to notch his eleventh shutout of the season. It was the team’s fourteenth overall whitewash, putting them withing sniffing distance of the state record of 17, held by Gilford.
Hanover’s unbeaten streak is now 24 games long, the second-longest in school history (46 games in 1992-1994) and tying Nashua High School for fifth longest in state history.

Informed of these team milestones, Coach Grabill issued an uncharacteristically curt response. “This is not a good time to talk about records,” he snapped. “Our focus right now is winning our next game, and that’s it. We’re not interested in this other stuff right now.” He softened a bit, praising the Marauders for their ability
To overcome distractions and maintain a consistent approach. “I’m very happy with the way we have practiced, and this has showed in recent games when we have had to play in poor weather.”

Next up for Hanover is eight-seeded Merrimack Valley, which opened the Class I tournament with a 3-2 victory over Portsmouth. Among Merrimack Valley’s 10 regular season wins was 3-2 win over dangerous fifth seed Hollis-Brookline. They also pushed second-seeded Bow before dropping a 1-0 decision. Kickoff for Fridays game is slated for 6:00 p.m.

NH vs Vermont Soccer Game, October 24

The Reserve/ Freshman NH vs. Vermont scrimmage is scheduled for tomorrow at 3:00 on the grass field. Because of the potenial for rain, there will be a final decision on whether to go ahead (based on weather) by 10:00 a.m. Wednesday.

Varsity vs Monadnock, October 19

Hanover Ends Regular Season Undefeated

The Hanover boys finished their unbeaten regular season in style on Friday, blanking Monadnock 5-0 to conclude the campaign with a 14-0-2 mark. It was the first time since 1993 that the Marauders have been undefeated, but larger challenges loom with the start of the NHIAA Class I playoffs next Tuesday.

Although it took the Marauders a while to score their first goal on a Monadnock team fighting for a playoff spot, they remained patient and were rewarded with ten minutes remaining in the first half when Casey Maue finished a sweet cross from Yosef Osheyack for his seventh goal of the season. Monadnock goalie Kyle Wright was doing a fabulous job in goal for the Huskies, and made the save of the day shortly afterwards, denying Lou Gemunden on a penalty kick with a dazzling dive to his left. Hanover grabed another goal at the death of the half when Angus Kennedy jumped on a loose ball after a Ben Rimmer corner kick and put a bulge in the onion bag for a 2-0 lead.

Despite the steady rain, Hanover remained composed and efficient in the second half, quickly doubling the lead before all eleven starters entered the game for the final 30 minutes. Osheyack scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season, tapping in a cross from Angus Kennedy after Casey Maue’s convincing dummy let the ball run through to him. Kennedy notched his second of the game and eighth of the season a few minutes later, converting pass from Eric Barthold, who took over the team lead in assists with his eighth helper of the year.

Even with a new face at every position, Hanover maintained territorial dominance. Coach Grabill has maintained all year that the Marauder reserves are perhaps one of the better teams in Class I, and this exhibition underscored that point. Erik Barth and Oliver Horton did a masterful job at distributing the ball at midfield, and wing midfielders Paul Burchard and Dylan Riessen were consistently dangerous. Backup goalkeeper Sam Gest wasn’t called on to make any saves to close out Hanover’s 13th shutout of the season, but he handled the ball well on several occasions, and made a great play on a dangerous through ball with split-second decision making.

Erik Barth closed the scoring for Hanover, banging home his second score of the season. Kevin Dade came close thereafter, generating three shots in a goalmouth flurry. All too soon the clock wound down, and the soggy Marauders briefly celebrated a feat which deserved more than that perfunctory apotheosis. Hanover teams have a long tradition of excellence, but it’s been more than a decade that a Marauder team has completed an undefeated season. The scoring statistics tell a story of dominance: Hanover has scored 67 goals and allowed only four, and it will take some archival research to figure out the school record for goals against. Many of the Hanover wins have been one-sided whitewashes against weak teams, but there have also been some classic nailbiters that have toughened this team for the second season which now beckons.

The first round of the NHIAA Class I tournament starts Tuesday, and top-seeded Hanover will probably host Coe-Brown. Game time has yet to be determined. No matter when the teams kick off, the game will be preceded by a short ceremony to honor the eleven graduating seniors and their parents. There is already much to celebrate, but this edition of Hanover soccer would love to add a few more chapters before they close the books.