Hosting perennial Division One power Manchester Central in their most important game of the season, the Mauarders overcame an early goal and made it rain on the Little Green, scoring four consecutive times to earn a huge 4-1 win. Hanover's had a number of learning opportunities in the early stages of the season, and they demonstrated that they have grown as a team. They shrugged off the early score, tightened up their defense, and scored some outstanding goals, led by a brace from Senior Captain Jamie Dinulos.
The match didn't begin brightly for the Marauders. Sam Strohbehn nearly scored right off the bat, and the Marauders looked strong in the very early going. But on Central's first foray into Hanover's end, Jackson Schneider got loose in the left corner and centered a ball to the top of the 18, where Little Green All-State midfielder Evan MacDonald had way too much time and space, drilling a shot to the lower left corner to give Central, winners of two of the past four NHIAA D1 titles, a 1-0 lead.
Hanover hardly hesitated, continuing to probe the Central defense. Jake Acker had a good look with his newly-powerful right peg, a Sam Srohbehn corner kick almost got results, and the Marauders actually put the ball into the Central net after a great run by Jamie Dinulos, only to have the goal waved off. Asa Berolzheimer got another chance to practice the free kick that will win a big game down the road, getting too much air this time.
Central didn't have many shots, but they were dangerous. MacDonald got loose at the top of the box once again, and this time Connor Edson made a nice diving save. MacDonald had scored on Edson in last year's loss at Central, and this time around, it was Hanover's senior goalie who would have the last word. Edson was steady and strong all night, handling a number of balls laid back to him with confidence and accuracy. Having held Hanover in the game, he watched the Marauders tie it late in the half.
Substitutes Henry Kahl and Seth Stadheim combined for a score with 5:10 left before the interval.
Asa Berolzheimer started the sequence, controlling the ball at midfield and playing the ball into space for Kahl, zooming in off the right flank, Kahl made a great play to get to the ball before it went over the endline and centered it to a streaking Stadheim, who redirected to ball from the six for his second goal of the year.
It didn't take long for the Marauders to continue their assault in the second half. With only 5:33 elapsed, Asa Berolzheimer got lose on the left side, and crossed the ball to Diuulos, who headed the ball home for a 2-1 lead. It was Jamie's sixth goal of the season, and Berolzheimer's 8th assist.
By now, the Marauders had a stranglehold on the game. The back four was moving the ball decisively, Jonah Levine and Jake Acker were dominating play in the center of the park, and Tim Alibozek was a constant threat up top. Sam Strohbehn was also having his best game of the year, and upped the advantage to 3-1 eight minutes later, taking a short pass from Ian Caldwell on the six year line and converting decisively for his third goal of the year.
Central had no answer for the Marauders. With Caldwell and Sam Pych dominating play in the middle of the park, the Little Green were unable to produce a single shot in the second half, and ended the game with no corner kicks. Edson continued to receive back passes and blast long balls down the field, handling the wet playing conditions with aplomb.
Dinulos put the icing on the cake in the 69th minute, taking a pass from Will Smith and doing his patented tap dance on the baseline, closing on the Central goal and blasting a shot that deflected into the net. The referee, remembering the goals that had been denied earlier in the match, declared that it was not an "own goal", and giving Dinulos the well-earned credit.
The win leapfrogged Hanover over Central and into sixth in the NHIAA Division One standings. The Marauders will need to move up at least two more places to gain their desired second home game in the playoffs, and they have their fate in their own hands, particularly since many of the teams currently ahead of them in the standings will be squaring off against each other in the weeks to come.
Hanover will train for two days and then be hosting Keene on Friday in a 4:00 match.
"We bounced back after a tough 2-1 loss to Bedford on Saturday, we showed resilience and patience when we surrendered an early lead, and closed out the match like pros against a strong and highly-motivated team. This was an excellent result for us," commented Coach Grabill. "We have a lot of work to do, but we can see a lot of progress thus far. We are on schedule and on target to achieve our goal of playing our best soccer when it means the most."
No comments:
Post a Comment