Freshmen Beat Manchester Memorial 2-0 On The Road

The wide turf field at Memorial High School was a familiar-feeling surface for Hanover's fleet footed freshmen boys Saturday, against a solid group of Memorial youngsters. The Marauders kept the pressure on at both ends all day, and used hustle and overall team speed to finally wear them down and nail down a strong 2 – 0 victory.

The first half was crisply played. The Marauders dominated the first 20 minutes in both time of possession and shots taken, but nothing found pay dirt. It still looked like this might be all Hanover, with Carter Auch coming off his line perfectly when needed, and making three strong saves in the half to thwart the occasional Memorial tries, along with strong play from Eli Stack, Pat Osborne, and Will Blinkhorn carrying the day early on.

As the half wore on, Memorial began to make more headway, getting the ball as often as they could to their fast, strong left winger who worked past midfield on several runs to test Auch, who responded with great anticipation and agility. Three shots on goal were wrapped up neatly by Carter, in what was his best game of the year. Play was more even in the second 20 minutes, but it still seemed like a matter of time before the Marauders would go ahead. Memorial's keeper made some nice saves of his own, on shots from many Hanover sources, and the half ended at zeros. Carl Gemunden and Ethan Ross, along with Judd Alexander, Brendan Brigham, and Jordan Gottleib, made things tough defensively on Memorial all day, which was even a stronger force in the second half.

Ah – the second half! Contributions came from everyone, and with about 25 minutes left in the game, Joey Perras found the mark on a breakaway goal with a defender on his heels, the recipient of a fine serve through the middle of the field from the unflappable Latham Allison. Joey carried the ball on a couple of touches before sending it home for the winning goal, as the bench, scattered traveling parents, and coaches erupted in a loud cheer.

An anxious moment followed soon thereafter, as a counter attack led to Carter Auch coming off his line, only to have the ball dumped near the goal mouth for what looked like the tying score, until Judd Alexander appeared from seemingly out of nowhere to reject the Merrimack hope.

Then, with only 10 minutes to play, Eli Bush played a perfect cross from the right to the capable foot of Toño Correa, who surgically sent the insurance goal home. Another game, another victory and satisfying team effort. Hats off to Carter, who earned the tough shutout, and to the focus and support that came from whoever was on the field and the bench. Everyone played relatively equal minutes of course, and all played well.

Only three games remain. Hanover playsThursday at Bishop Guertin, then hosts the last home game on Wednesday, Oct. 19th on the HHS turf against Salem.  The  final match will be at nearby Cardigan Mountain, Saturday  October 22, at 3:00. See you on the sidelines!