Hanover High Boys Soccer 2021

 All four HHS boys teams gathered Wednesday night to celebrate the season, recognizing every player and honoring a number of award winners. Freshman coaches Jason Hirschhorn and Ned Harris gave out a number of "fun" awards, and cited nine players, all listed below.  JV2 Coach Ian Caldwell praised his team for its growth over the course of the season, playing a full schedule after last year's limited slate of games. JV1 Coach Willie Johnson composed his annual limerick, detailing the highlights of the season.  Varsity Coach Rob Grabill praised Associate Head Coach Sam Farnham for his contributions, and noted the success of the team in ten years of Division One play.  The award winners: Hanover High School Soccer Awards 2021`   Varsity Team Awards   Offensive Player of the Year – Murphy Hunt  Defensive Player of the Year – Luke Ives    Rookie of the Year – Owen Smith  Most Improved – Pierce Seigne  Unsung Hero – Owen Smith, Zach Tracy, Becket McCurdy, Jack Gardner Goal of t

   Hanover played a brilliant match in the NHIAA D1 Finals, losing to unbeaten, nationally ranked Nashua South in the 11th round of a penalty kick shootout.  Hanover rallied to tie the game 2-2 in the second half and them dominated the two overtime periods, hitting the post late in the second overtime. Nashua South prevailed in the PK shootout to claim their first title, finishing 19-0-1.  They are the first D1 team to be unbeaten since Hanover did it in 2013 with the same record.  The match was played in front of a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 in chilly Stellos Stadium.  The Hanover road crew more than offset the Nashua South home field advantage, and were rewarded by a performance to make them proud.  This was the final match for 11 exceptional seniors. The match began well for Hanover, who recently had made a habit of fast starts.  Despite the pressure and the quality of the opposition, Hanover was on the front foot in the opening minutes.  Thirty seconds iafrter the opening w

 Hanover played a brilliant match in the NHIAA D1 Finals, losing to unbeaten, nationally ranked Nashua South in the 11th round of a penalty kick shootout.  Hanover rallied to tie the game 2-2 in the second half and them dominated the two overtime periods, hitting the post late in the second overtime. Nashua South prevailed in the PK shootout to claim their first title, finishing 19-0-1.  They are the first D1 team to be unbeaten since Hanover did it in 2013 with the same record.  The match was played in front of a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 in chilly Stellos Stadium.  The Hanover road crew more than offset the Nashua South home field advantage, and were rewarded by a performance to make them proud.  This was the final match for 11 exceptional seniors. A match of this quality and excitement deserves a careful, detailed writeup, which will be coming soon in this space. Your editor has a very early wakeup call before a long day at work on Saturday, and it's so late it's ea

 Hanover's dream season will come to an end, one way or another, on a frosty Friday night at Stellos Stadium. They play undefeated, nationally-ranked, top-seeded Nashua South in the NHIAA Division One Finals at 7:30.  The opportunity is everything they could have hoped for.  Hanover lost to South 1-0 way back in September, and they are eager to demonstrated that they have improved a bit since that drab Monday afternoon when the road-weary team, playing their fourth game in seven days, made an early mistake and never recovered.  They have been to Stellos, their home away from home, twice since then, and none of those game have been boring.  Last time out, they beat a super-talented, heartsick Central team, advancing on a 5-4 penalty kick shootout.  Now then have the chance to avenge their only other NH regular season loss.  It's been such a long haul since the dog days of August, and the journey of growth and maturation has been full of delightful twists.  This is not a perfect

Students interested in attending Friday's state championship game Friday between Hanover and Nashua South have the opportunity to sign up for a spectator bus that will depart HHS at 5:45 for the 7:30 game at Stellos Stadium.  Students must sign up for the bus on Wednesday in the Athletic Office, and there must be a minimum of 25 confirmed students by Thursday at 9:00 a.m.  The bus is free, and a student admission ticket at the game costs $5.00.  The guidelines for the bus are the same as for all athletic teams: masks must be worn at all times, and no food or drink is allowed on the bus.  There will be concessions at Stellos Stadium.  The bus will be chaperoned.  This is a great opportunity for a safe, timely trip to help support Hanover as the seek their second state title in three years.

 There is something unique about playing high school soccer in November.  Not many of the teams are left, and every game is high risk, high reward.  It's time to step up and play your best, showing what you have learned during the long slog of a season that started in August.  Hanover stepped up and played one of their best games against their toughest opponent to date, and followed 100 minutes of scoreless soccer against Manchester Central by winning a sudden death penalty kick shootout.  They now advance to the Division One championship game on Friday, their second trip to the finals in three years. Two years ago, Hanover won the D1 title by winning three penalty kick shootouts, including one against Central. They understand the likelihood of a shootout, and the value of training for it.  When the moment came after a well-played, dramatic battle with Central, they kept their nerve and rode the sensational goalkeeping of Ty Nolon, who saved four of the eight kicks taken against hi