All's
well that ends well. What would start with a substantial defeat at
home field on an idyllic August afternoon would end with a victory on
away pitch against a perennial victor in simply miserable conditions.
The game began as the temperature dropped and the rain increased. The
term warm-up seemed ironic in this weather. Hanover and Cardigan soon
showed they came to play, though. Cardigan proved they were a still a
strong squad with skill and good ball movement under the direction of
former Hanover Coach Rob Edson. They managed to get the first goal on a
shot that just found the inside post and bounced in. Hanover stayed in it, though, and the perpetually attacking Andrew Enelow attained
possession and made an assist to Alec McDevitt keenly lurking on the
right flank, who made a smart run to the far post and finished. The
first half would show no real advantage to either team. Hanover's
defense kept Cardigan at bay, and its deep bench continued to press
with good play from all 27 players including Chris Lee, Caleb Calloway,
James Roth, and Oliver Minshall who just missed the goal outside the
post from shot inside the eighteen. The score would remain tied for
the half thanks in part due to formidable wall on a free kick that
included Alex Roth taking a hard shot to the gut. This earned him the
respect of his teammates such that his name would would be included in
the cheer coming out at half-time.
The second half started
off rocky with sequence of events that resulted in a Cardigan goal. A
missed pass, and a mistaken assumption of stoppage of play led to the
defense and keeper letting up which Cardigan capitalized on and scored.
Hanover remained undaunted and played on. As the game wore on, this
pressure would lead to a foul at the top of the box. Theo Sparks was chosen to
take the kick. Realizing he had some room to work with, he made a
clinical chip over the wall and keeper just under the net and out of
reach of the keeper. This opportunity would once again present itself
even further way from the goal, and with ice in his veins, Theo executed a
perfect chip for the lead. Even though Hanover had the lead, the game
was far from over. Cardigan continued their attack forcing Eric
Seltzer, who after standing for almost a hour and half in what could be
considered ideal hypothermic conditions had just enough feeling in his
hands to make the critical grabs. With four minutes remaining, all the
seniors: Aidan Connolly, Wilson Rimberg, Avery Wallis, Daniel Wilson,
Dimitri Somoff, Harry Olszewski, and Tenzing Rumrill with a supporting
cast of other classes including Mal Flynn, Ian Surat-Mosher, and Theo
took to the field to take the win home. This would be cemented from a
goal from two Reserve veterans Aidan Connolly and Tenzing Rumrill.
Aidan won possession of a loose ball on the left flank and made a great
thru ball for Tenzing to run onto. Tenzing with the maturity of a
finisher realized his quickest and best opening would have to come from
his left foot, uncorked the final goal of the season into into the
corner of the net.
Even though not all the players were
mentioned in this post, it was a pleasure coaching all of them this
season and see them go from a group of players and sometime strangers to
a unified team standing triumphant on the cold, muddy pitch that Saturday afternoon.
- Coach McEwen
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