There were a lot of ways in which Friday's annual New Hampshire vs. Vermont intrasquad scrimmag could have been disappointing. It was another hot day at the Pasture at the end of a long, hard week of training, and there were distractions aplenty, not the least of which was Lars Blackmore's spy drone, hovering menacingly over Hanover's sylvan practice pitch.
Every single one of more than 45 Varsity and JV players stepped up, however, and contributed to a scintillating afternoon of soccer. The thrown-together teams played exciting, physical soccer, with New Hampshire emerging as the winner on a late goal by Jack Pattison.
Each team had heroes aplenty. Literally every one of the Varsity regulars, sprinkled nearly equally on each team, played well. All eight defenders were focused and nearly error-free. Both starting keepers came off their lines well and kept passing to the right team. The Vermont attack looked strong, with Sam Strohbehn converting a sweet pass from Asa Berolzheimer after some magic on the baseline. New Hampshire unveiled a new-look offense with five hungry Varsity reserves, and the strike force of Stadheim and Murdza looked dangerous, backed by Griffin Johnson. It was wingers Henry Kahl and Luke Messersmith who joined forces to tie the match, however, with Luke heading home Henry's well-taken corner kick.
More than a few JV players stepped up superbly. Ben Sobel looked good in a starting role. David Seigne and Lincoln Adam were dangerous on the flanks. David Wilson and Alvaro Cooper gave their team valuable minutes while keeping the level of play very high, and the same could be said for Benny Gantrish, who had two great cracks at goal, one foiled by a great save from Patrick Logan.
Jamie Dinulos, hustling out to the Pasture after a harrowing afternoon of Soarthroats tryouts (which actually could/should have been held at the Pasture, so Sam wouldn't space on them), got Vermont back into the lead in the opening minute, taking a sweet lead pass and tucking his shot into the corner of the goal.
The Green Mountain boys were getting great center back play from Lucas Blackmore and Simon Kahan, and looked to get an additional boost from Sander Macaulay, who once again ended up in Lars Blackmore's gallery of interesting poses. Late in the match, though, it was some Messersmioth magic that tied the game for New Hampshire, with Luke getting free on the left flank and depositing his shot into the far side netting.
The game raged past the appointed deadline, the grills started firing up back at the turf, and yet the quality of play continued to rock. With Sam Pych unshackled to run wild and free for the Granite Staters, New Hampshire earned a corner kick, and after the ball pinged around the Vermont box, Jack Pattison, who had played the senior trump card to get forward on the play, was in the right pace at the right time to tuck home the game-winning rebound. Vermont pressed for the equalizer, but the NH defense was equal to the task in front of Owen Brooks, and Sam Pych's counterattack came up empty.
Three tweets. Game over. Good end to a good day. Messersmith took home Man of the Match honors, and both teams, looking forward to a week in which they actually play against another school, called it a night.
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