Hanover High Boys Soccer 2021

 Hanover faced one of its toughest tests of the season this far, and came away with a solid 2-0 victory over defending state champion Windham. The win vaults Hanover over the Jaguars and into third place in the NHIAA Division One standings with an 8-2-1 record.  Windham, which had lost only to unbeaten Nashua North, drops to fifth with a 7-2-2 mark.  Hanover took control of the match early, gaining a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute on Eric Ringer's fifth goal, and then doubling the lead only two minutes into the second half on Oscar's fifth goal.  The Hanover defense was organized and effective, and closed out the match to nail down the win.  Somewhat surprisingly, Hanover outshot a listless Windham squad 18-5, and were in control the entire time.     Hanover arrived on time, and warmed up crisply and effectively.  The Windham team filtered onto their bench late, and warmed up with no real sign of energy or intensity.  It was hardl...

  The Hanover JV2 boys played some of their most impressive soccer of the season in a tough 80 minutes Thursday night. Their opponents, Sunapee, were looking forward to this fixture having brushed aside this JV2 squad 9-2 in their previous meeting. Much like their previous few matches, Hanover was never going to give Sunapee an easy time, and straight from kickoff took the ball into their opponent’s end where it would stay for the opening 10 minutes. Captain and Striker Alex Brackett was the center of the action and his combination play with Will Taylor sent the later into space down the right where Taylor hit an early ball across the box to an on rushing Simon Taenzer. The talismanic Junior took two strides to steady himself before dispatching the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, 1-0 Hanover. The rhythm of the match remained relatively constant and it seemed for every chance on net that Sunapee had, Hanover had two. A midfield master class from Liam Foston, Trevor Lic...

  Hanover JV1 would face off with one its most premier opponents to date with its trip to Windham on Thursday 9/30. The JV would be dropped off first at Griffin park where they would find their opponents in wait. After a hard-fought contest, Windham would come out on top by a 2-0 score. Hanover would play some its best soccer to start the game and created some early scoring chances. In the 3rd minute, Sam Calderwood did well to chase down a deflected Ian Press shot that was held up from going off the end touchline by the long grass. Calderwood would collect and put it back across the goal mouth but had it run off the end before making its way to Veer Patel. Another quality chance would come in the 9th minute from an Augie Krawitt corner that was settled by Ian Press and struck just wide. Not much more than a minute later in the 11th, Calderwood recognized the swarm around him at the top of the 18 and a slid the ball through to Ian Smith running on who drilled a shot that was saved ...

 Coming into Wednesday's game, the Freshmen know we'd be tested like never before. We'd be playing another undefeated program: the Londonderry Lancers, who sat at 6-0 and had outscored their opponents 42-5. But Hanover was ready to be tested. Right out of the gate, it was clear that the Lancers had half-a-dozen individuals with superb skills on the ball. Therefore, not only would Hanover have to minimize these threats, but we would also have to mount an attack of our own. 15 minutes in, the Lancers hit us hard on a counter-attack: one-v-one against Henry Cotter, who tried his best to get a glove on it. Though this was the only goal of the half, it wasn't for a lack of trying on either end. Indeed, midway through the first half, Hanover switched up the rotation and started playing in a 4-4-2 formation in an effort to capitalize on through balls and counter-attacks of our own. Admittedly, it wasn't the prettiest way to play, but we felt it would be effective at giving...

 There are two schedule updates for the Varsity and JV1.  There is a new dismissal time for both teams for Thursday's trip to Windham.  The teams are now dismissed at 1:20, and departure will be at 1:30.  Game times are at 4:30.  The JV game is at Griffin Park, 101 Range Road, Windham, NH, 03087.  The Varsity game is at Windham High School, 64 London Bridge Road, Windham, NH 03087. The other schedule update is a change of date for the Varsity and JV1 games at Dover scheduled for October 12.  The new date is Saturday, October 9th.  Game times are to be determined.  Please make a not of this and check your schedules for Saturday, Oct. 9.

 The Varsity played its most complete game of the season against Merrimack on Tuesday, outshooting them 35-1 en route to a comprehensive 5-0 victory.  Five different players scored, and four others added assist.  (Six of the were from Lyme). Despite playing without both Captains, recovering from injuries, Hanover was equally strong on defense, limiting Merrimack in every respect and collecting the team's fourth shutout.  They are now 7-2-1, heading into the first of several showdown games, a rematch with Windham. Games against teams with losing records don't always go this smoothly.  Hanover has been known to play down to the level of the opposition, which hasn't happened since their 2-1 victory over Salem last week. This match, perhaps, showed the progress that they have made in playing patient possession soccer.  It was a great setup for the harder games ahead. There were no close calls or letdowns at the start of the match.  Hanover slowly gained a ...

  The Hanover JV took to the road once again to face Merrimack at the beautiful Back River Sports complex. Much to the JV’s surprise, they found out upon arrival not only would they be playing on turf but would also be playing on the larger of the two fields.   Sporting a changed formation of a 4-4-2,  Hanover found itself linking passes early on. Ian Press played a quality number 10 position linking, back with the midfielders during his initial stint. Veer Patel, playing excellent width, had several runs in behind the defense, one led a quality shot by Press inside the 18 the went just wide of the far post. On the ensuing goal kick, Merrimack’s keeper duffed it straight to Sam Calderwood who took a touch towards goal before slotting it near post just in behind the onrushing keeper to put Hanover up 1-0 in the 8th minute. Hanover would continue its quality play with pressure from the front and Ethan Munson being a vocal leader organizing the back. Wing backs Jackson Watts...

 As we transition to fall weather, the schedule heats up for all four teams, beginning Tuesday when the Varsity and JV1 teams head to Bedford to play Merrimack at the Back River Road complex. (15 Camp Allen Road, Bedford, NH  03110).  Dismissal time is 1:20, and departure is 1:30 sharp. On Wednesday the Freshman team takes center stage, hosting Londonderry at 4:00 at Dresden.  The regularly-scheduled practice bus will get players to the field on time, and players are responsible for their own rides home. Bring a warmup or jacket! Three teams play on Thursday:  The Varsity and JV1 will travel to Windham, with a 1:55 dismissal.  This will be the first time the JV1s have ever played Windham.  The Varsity has faced Windham once - last year in the NHIAA Division 1 semifinals.  The Jaguars handed Hanover their only loss en route to winning  the D1 title. The JV2 squad gets its first action on Thursday, hosting Sunapee at Dresden, and then closes ou...

 We have mentioned several times that we don't ask our players to raise money to support the soccer teams.  We do our fundraising with the publication of the souvenir program book (now in production - everyone gets a copy), and with an appeal by the Friends of Hanover Soccer.  That direct request went out to parents today.  We need the support.  So far, only 20 families out of nearly 90 have donated or pledged. We prefer to have our players spend a small but hopefully significant amount of time and energy supporting several charitable causes.  Two of these are coming up soon. We have pledged our support to the Walk to End Alzheimers on October 2d. You have seen the signs all over the Upper Valley.  The effort is off to a great start, and out work can put the effort over the top.  There is a specific Hanover Soccer link on the fundraising page: https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2021/VT-Vermont?team_id=712351&pg=team&fr_id=14854 The Walk is ba...

  The Hanover JV2 Boys picked up a well-earned 2nd win of the season on a cloudy Thursday night in Woodsville .  Battle-hardened by a string of tough results, the JV2 boys started, played, and ended on the front-foot against their opponents. Simon Taenzer got things started for Hanover with some nice link-up play with Captain Alex Brackett. Though a killer-pass into the box was cut out well by Woodsville. Aaron Nyhan had the match's next chance after the Junior Captain controlled the ball off a corner from Liam Foston, Nyhan skillfully flicked the ball up to himself with his first touch before chipping the keeper with his second, a terrific effort that just went over the bar. Hanover's early chances had started to slow down by now, and the middle 20 minutes of the first half consisted of a hard-fought midfield battle. Both teams looked to find non-existent space in each other's halves. Woodsville finally managed to find some joy inside the Hanover half and a quickfire shot ...

As we head toward the weekend, here is the schedule for the week ahead.  Based on the weather forecast, we are canceling the Friday practices for JV1, JV2, and the Freshmen.  The Varsity practice on the HHS turf at 4:30 will still be held. Although we'll supply more details later, we are delighted to report that the JV2 team won a 1-0 thriller at Woodsville Thursday afternoon.  Aaron Nyhan volleyed home the game winning goal late in the match, chipping the keeper from outside the 18.  The Hanover defense, led by Paul Ashton, Liam Foston and Wyatt Sklarin, helped Iver Skogerboe earn the shutout. Congratulations to Coach Bucket and the JV2 for a great week. Sat. Sept. 25 – Sun Sept. 25   Days off – all teams     Monday, Sept. 27     3:45                     Busses depart for practices/game at Dresden Fields   4:00 – 5:30  ...

The Hanover freshmen went to Concord on a soggy afternoon for a rematch of our home game with them last Saturday.  They had three or four unfamiliar players on their side this time; they were big, strong, fast players who changed the complexion of their team.  Nonetheless, we went up a goal early in the game when Andrew Rudd alertly tapped home a rebound off of a low, hard shot from Gavin Munson that the Concord keeper couldn't handle.  But Concord answered right back with three goals in quick succession.  Henry Steffen was in good position for all three, but Concord's talented forwards put the balls out of reach.  The rest of the first half was a stalemate as the field got sloppier and the play became disjointed on both sides. We went into the half down 3-1 -- this was the first time we had trailed in a game all season, so it offered us a chance to face some real adversity and stage a comeback.  We asked the boys to play more directly in the second half, s...

  The Hanover JV2 Boys kicked off their 5th match of the 21/22 season looking to bounce back from last weekend's heartbreaking late loss to Hartford. Hanover started the match with purpose and put the ball deep in Cardigan's half early and often. Junior Theo Joseph, making his debut after a week sidelined due to a "skateboard related incident", had the game's first chance. Theo found space between his opposing center-backs before his close-range shot was smothered by a last-ditch tackle. Finn Duncan, quickly proving himself as a footballer, had the next chance as he paced through Cardigan's defense at the half-way line, but a heavy touch gave just enough of a chance for Cardigan's keeper to snatch-up the ball. Twenty minutes gone, still 0-0. The next five minutes saw Cardigan finally find some space in Hanover's half. After some hard-fought midfield play, their nifty-number-nine managed to get on the end of a looping effort just before the diving hands...

 Hanover's fifth long road trip in the last six games was a highly successful one.  Hanover controlled their game with Salem from wire to wire and came away with a businesslike 2-1 victory that was enabled by a large number of players, both starters and subs. Eric Ringer and Carter Guerin scored first half goals, and a patched-up Hanover defense tightened up after one second half goal against the run of play, and saw the game out to raise their record to 6-2-1.  Hanover tried as hard as they could not to conceded an early goal, or risk doing so.  Fortunately, in the seventh minute of a til-then turgid match, Ty Nolan came roaring off his line to win a 50-50 ball off the foot of dangerous striker Tyler McGary.   Hanover had their first good chance in the eleventh minute, when Oscar flashed out of his tete-a-tete with the Salem goalkeeper and nearly flicked am Eric Ringer corner kick inside the far post.  Two minutes later, Jacob Kubik-Pauw dropped an amazing...

  Hanover soccer made the long commute down to Salem this Tuesday, September 21st, in hopes of taking care of business. Upon arrival, the JV1s were met with the smallest pitch they had seen yet, but this was of little concern as it just meant fewer through balls, more playing to feet, and switching the ball in the middle third. Hanover got off to a good start,  keeping possession in Salem’s end. However this would directly lead to an early chance for Salem in the 4th minute when they cleared out of the defensive third into the attacking third where they won a sprint to cross a ball in, finding  a winger for a head. Wyatt Seelig kept his calm and coolly collected the bouncing ball on frame for the first save of the game. Hanover recognized that they couldn’t play too casually with the ball and picked up their intensity. In the 7th minute, Sam Calderwood would collect the ball on the 18 and make a run down toward the end line before playing an excellent sliding ball in fron...

 As the season rolls toward the midpoint, is in natural for players to relax a bit with regard to rules, even when they are specifically designed for player safety.  It is a specific Hanover Soccer policy that shin guards and soccer socks are required for all games and practices.  Shin guards are not necessary for warmups and some drills, but no player is allowed to participate in drills which involve tackling and any scrimmage-type activity without shinguards, supported by soccer socks.  The program has ample used soccer socks which we will happily issue to players.  Coaches are specifically asked to not allow improperly equipped players on all four teams to participate in any scrimmage activities.

 On a beautiful fall afternoon, the Freshman squad squared up against the Little Green from Manchester Central. Unfortunately, the game wasn't quite as beautiful. For 80 minutes, Hanover played hard to match Manchester's playmaking in the midfield, speed upfront, and extremely physical play. The boys are to be commended for keeping their mental cool throughout and running hard in the heat until the final whistle blew in a 1-1 draw. Hanover scored early when, four minutes in, Schulyer Clapp collected the ball at the top of the 18-yard box, turned to face the goal, and rocketed a shot towards the far right post. But that was all Hanover put on the board for the rest of the day despite a handful of well-taken shots from Joseph Glass, Gavin Munson, and Andrew Rudd. In the second half, a Hanover handball in the box led to a penalty kick for the Little Green. Henry Cotter guessed right, but the well-struck kick was just out of reach. With four minutes to play, Ma...

 All four of the Hanover boys teams will have Dresden to themselves Monday, with three training sessions and a home game for the red hot Freshman team.  The frosh host Manchester Central, and can count on the practice bus getting them there in time for a god-pregame warmup.  Kickoff with the traditionally strong Little Green is at 4:30. The other pitch will be shared by JV1 and JV2 for a regular training session at 4:00, ending a bit early at 5:15.   The Varsity will show up at 5:00, do their warmup on the side, and then nudge the JV teams off to start their session at 5:15. They will clear off at 6:45 so that many of them can get back to the HHS Turf in time to cheer the unbeaten field hockey team on against archival Lebanon. All four teams will play on either Tuesday or Wednesday.  Varsity and JV1 will make the trek to the Massachusetts border with 5:00 games at Salem.  Both teams will be dismissed at 2:25 sharp, and the bus will leave shortly afterwards....

The  Hanover JV1 squad would face off with Portsmouth on a muggy fall morning. The early morning clouds would start to burn off just as the game kicked off and made for some warm conditions. Hanover would find a quality scoring chance early in the 4th with a through ball from Joseph Umwizeye that nearly connected with Sam Calderwood holding the 18 but the ball would skip over his foot. Play would progress in Hanover's favor for most of the opening of the game. Ian Smith and Augie Krawitt both had excellent positioning on the flanks with interplay and build up that led to some crosses, but were unmet by teammates. As Hanover would start to connect with their passing patterns into the attacking third, There was a clear sense that it spurred Portsmouth to wake up and play harder. Several tackles that Portsmouth made looked to be either at the backs of Hanover players or behind the play. Ian Press, having the ball on his foot so often, took the brunt of this rough play, but weathe...

Hanover responded to the challenge of a tough week, returning to their home turf and delivering a solid   3-0 victory overt Portsmouth on Saturday.  After a scoreless first half, Hanover scored three times in a thirteen minute stretch, with two goals by Jack Gardner and the game-winner by Oscar. Each striker hit the three-goal mark, and the Hanover defense in front of goalkeeper Ty Nolon recorded their third shutout of the season. Charged with focusing on defense in the opening minutes, having conceded goal in the first five minutes of two of their last three games, Hanover nevertheless came within inches of falling behind again, this time inside the first two minutes.  Frank Coviello found a weak spot in the Hanover back eight and got off a hard shot.  Ty Nolon dove to his left to make the save, but spilled the rebound, and Clipper Adrian Degnan was first to the ball, missing just to the outside of the right post.  Way too close for comfort.  Thereafter in...

The freshman team was excited to play our first home game on the HHS turf, and that enthusiasm paid dividends as we won a comprehensive 5-0 victory over the Crimson Tide of Concord High School.  We got off to a fast start when Gavin Munson slotted a ball through to Andrew Rudd, who buried a left-footed shot into the far side netting.  Just five minutes later, we struck again as Munson cashed in after a nice midfield combination left him open near the top of the penalty box.  He drifted to his left and drove home with his lethal left foot. Meanwhile, our back four of Sebastian Bujarski, the Sam Ames and Sam McDonell and Jai Gregory held the quick and skillful Concord forward in check through a combination of strong tackling, good communication, and instinctive play.  Henry Cotter directed his defense with his usual poise, coming off his line a number of times to clear dangerous through balls.  The central midfield combination of Joseph Glass, Munson, Gus Tho...

 As we near the halfway point in the season (and how is that possible???) we have another great day on tap  on which all four boys teams have games, three of them at home. The JV2 team has the lone road trip, a short hop to Hartford to play the Hurricanes at 10:00 at the lush Maxfield Sports Complex (120 Leslie Drive, Hartford, VT 05001).  That's just south of UVAC on Rt. 5. Sometimes as the season slogs on, players drop out.  The allure of the JV2 is such that we have added two new players in the past week. Playing for Bucket has that effect. The Varsity and JV1 will host Portsmouth at HHS at 10:00.  After a long slog of road games, the team will be delighted to play in familiar confines. The Freshmen, Hanover's lone unbeaten soccer team, will defend that distinction on the Turf at 4:00 against a traditionally good Concord team. (There are not that many scouting reports available in Freshman soccer.  The season is like a box of chocolates).  We need a...

 Rained - Out practices mean that everyone has a chance to catch up on their homework.  There's no exception for the crew in the home office of Hanover Boys Soccer.  So we are publishing the schedule for the coming week a bit early, to help with your advance planning.  We have had several questions about weekends, so we will look even further ahead and let you know about weekends in October.  As it stands now, there there will be no more Sunday training sessions for any of the four teams.  Here is a look at the Saturday Schedules for the month of October: Oct. 2:  JV2 Home vs. Woodsville at 1:00 Oct. 9:  All four teams off Oct. 16:  JV2 Home vs. Hartford at 10:00, Freshmen at Exeter at 11:00 Oct. 23:  JV2 at Cardigan at 1:00, Freshmen at Concord Tournament (All Day - Schedule TBA) We hope this helps with your planning! HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER GAME AND PRACTICE SCHEDULE SEPT. 16-25       Thursday, Sept. 16   3:...