There are a lot of ways to win a one-sided soccer game, and the Marauders found one of the best possible ones on a soggy Thursday at Merriman-Branch Field, beating winless Dover 6-0 with a crisp and exciting offensive display that showed off the incredible depth in Hanover's lineup.
It would have been easy for this game to be a perfunctory or even negative affair. Some of that was out of Hanover's hands. Dover came into the match winless, facing a long, long bus ride and a rain-soaked venue. It would have been so easy for them to have given up at some point in the match, or even before. But the Green Wave got to the game right one time, and right from the start it was easy to see that they were well-coached and disciplined, and determined to play as well as they could.
Hanover responded in kind. The Marauders were equally disciplined, and played some superb soccer. The starters scored two goals in less than nine minutes and retired for the rest of the afternoon. The quality of the match never wavered, though. Dover's hard work kept Hanover from being lazy or complacent, and their accurate passing, good decision-making and unselfishness produced some high-quality soccer that was a credit to both teams.
The match got off to a good start when the Marauders earned an early corner kick. The ball got across the face of the goal and into a scrum off the left post, where Jake Acker got enough whacks at the ball to induce it over the line for his sixth goal of the season. Eight minutes later, Hanover doubled the lead with a high quality goal. Griffin Johnson played a ball to Casey Starr in the right corner and the speedy senior caught it just before the baseline and hit a hard centering pass to the goalmouth, where Charlie Adams volleyed it in for his team-leading 8th goal of the season.
The Marauders subbed six starters before the 15-minute mark, and Hanover's offense continued to tick like a Swiss watch. Bauti Gallino played a ball to the left flank for Liam Collins, who found space and centered the ball to Alvaro Cooper at the top of the penalty area. Cooper, whose control of center midfield made him a candidate for Man of the Match, hit a sweet shot to the upper right corner for a 3-0 Hanover lead. Less than a minute later, Ben Sobel, who had been knocking on the door every time he entered a match, collected his first varsity goal with a bodacious rip to the upper left corner after taking a pass from Sander Macaulay, who earned his first varsity assist.
Amazingly, when the next wave of subs entered, featuring a bevy of sophomores, the quality of play stayed just as high. Dillon Bradley headed a shot that just went over the bar. Nico Mayo-Pushee hit a rocket shot from the right side, and then put a dangerous header on goal, forcing a save from Dover keeper Frank Purvis-Fuentes. Elias Zinman went deep into the right corner and hit a wonderful arching cross that was snagged by Purvis-Fuentes just before it reached a lurking Gallino. Charlie Adams hit a long-range calling card over the top from outside the penalty area.
The second half saw more quality soccer, and once again it was the sophomores leading the way, following a few good looks from senior Sander Macaulay, looking for his elusive fist goal.
Fifteen minutes after the interval, Liam Collins continued his magic on the left side, centering a ball for Elias Zinman for a clinical finish and a 5-0 lead. Five minutes later, Collins collected his third assist in similar fashion squaring a ball to Gallino, who hit a testing shot on goal that was denied by a brilliant save from Purvis Fuentes. The ball rebounded right back to Gallino, who instinctively one-timed it into the net for his third goal of the season.
Here's a description of how very deep the Marauder offense has become: In 2013, when the undefeated Marauder team scored a total of 66 goals, twelve different Marauders found the net at least once, and 17 different Hanover players had at lest one point. This year's team ALREADY has 14 different players with a goal, and 20 with at least a point. It's very likely those latter two totals will increase before the season is over. This is a team full of talented players, and as much as they like scoring goals or setting them up, they take equal pleasure from watching their teammates do well.
There was even more icing on the cake today. Today's game was the Grassroot Charity Game, and the Marauders celebrated having raised $2,350 for one of the Upper Valley's most effective and far-reaching charities. They are so close to their goal of $2,500, which will be matched by Positive Tracks and allow them to reach their goal of $5,000. That's more than many of the college teams have produced in similar games.
Hanover's march toward the playoffs continues this Saturday. They will gather at 11:00 for Senior Day celebrations, joined by an number of their comrades on the Reserve team. Then they will turn their attention to Alvirne, which will enter the game fighting for a playoff spot, and raise the level of play as a result. Bundle up and join us!
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