Freshmen Play Well in 3-3 Draw at Dover

 A week ago, the Freshman team suffered their first defeat of the season. Since then, we’ve worked on our aggressiveness, our fitness, making simple passes, and maintaining possession in order to come out stronger for today’s match . Well, I’m happy to report that the team delivered and dominated the match, though unfortunately the end result didn’t reflect the play on the pitch: we were tied with Dover 3-3 after regulation and couldn’t get a winner in the 10-minute overtime. Dover had 4 shots in total; three of them were goals, and each one was the result of our defense getting beaten on a counterattack.

The scoring started in the 10th minute when a Teddy Abbate throw in from the left side was controlled by Noi Larusson, played through to Schuyler Clapp, and then passed on to Andrew Rudd on the right side only to be summarily sent into the back of the net. A perfect example of the passes we were able to string together and the chances we were able to create for 90 straight minutes (an 18-4 shot differential in our favor). 16 minutes in, Dover got the equalizer when their biggest threat (#17) put the ball in over Henry Steffen from the side of the penalty box.

In the second half, Dover took a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute when their attacker slotted the past Henry into the right-side of the goal. (Our second defensive breakdown.) Hanover roared back in the 63rd minute when Ben Thaler Wellborn won a loose ball in the six-yard box and tapped it just over the line. The ping-pong scoring continued with a Dover goal in the 73rd minute (an attacker ran through our defender, no foul was called, and they slotted the ball into the corner) and a final Hanover goal in the 77th minute when Schulyer took a corner from the left side and nestled the ball just inside the far top corner of the net. Hanover dominated possession in the ten minutes of extra time, (like the 80 minutes before it) but was unable to get the go-ahead.

Nevertheless, our short-handed team (down a quarter of our players!) played one of its best matches of the year. A number of players undoubtedly had their best performances of the season. My editor would complain about my word-count if I listed every single highlight, but here’s a brief rundown:

        •       Henry Steffen’s play in goal kept us in the game, and every ball he had possession of—be it from a back pass, on a punt, or on a throw—was sent directly to our players’ feet.
        •       Ezra McGinley-Smith played like a man possessed at left wing: aggressively tackling balls away from Dover’s men, chasing down through-balls, and sending crosses into the box.
        •       Once we realized that #17 was Dover’s main target, Lionel Ndong shut him down on the right side. Lionel doesn’t get beat back there!
        •       Alex Orsino played the game at striker, which fit him nicely. He had three shots and set up twice as many!
        •       Noi Larusson was also up top, and he used his excellent field awareness to continually set up his teammates (including on our first goal).
        •       Sam Ames, as always, played with incredibly passion and skill. You could see it in his eyes—he wouldn’t let us lose.
        •       Gus Thompson was in the camp of “players with their best performance of the season”: he was aggressive on the left side, winning tackle after tackle, and he made deep runs into Dover territory to remain a constant threat.
        •       Ben Thaler Wellborn was one of our five men in the middle whose aggressiveness, simple passes, and field vision helped us create some incredible attacking sequences.
        •       John Scherer was another man in the middle, and, more than he’s ever done before, won possession of the ball and played it directly to our players’ feet in order to build an effective attack.
        •       Schuyler Clapp was slotted into attacking center mid, which I daresay fit him nicely. He ran the entire field, his passing was always on point, and it felt like every time he had the ball, something good would come of it.
        •       Joseph Glass played a full match for us in midfield. He’s always crafty with the ball on his feet, but he made a concerted effort to create give-and-go’s, spread the ball out wide, and send dangerous diagonal through balls.
        •       Jai Gregory played lock-down defense on the right-side and repeatedly moved forward to effectively support our attack.
        •       Isaac Novosad was in the right position to receive the ball time and time again. He kept their back line constantly on their toes.
        •       On one sequence, Teddy Abbate must’ve taken four thrown ins in quick succession as Dover kept kicking the ball out and we kept moving down the field. Teddy’s an incredibly smart player who always sends the ball where it needs to go.
        •       Sebastian Bujarski was another member of the “players with their best performance of the season” club. All week long, he wanted to work on being more aggressive—today, his hard work paid off. He shut down attackers, stepped into space to win loose balls, and played beautiful balls to our midfielders.
        •       Sam McDonnell—in a a pair of loner cleats—ran his butt off in the back; apart from the aforementioned non-call, he didn’t get beat. Plus, he and Sam A will win every 50-50 ball that’s near them.
        •       Andrew Rudd was as sneaky as ever on the right side, with fancy footwork and precision passing to set up chance after chance for our team.

Traveling two hours each way is a serious commitment, and we’re grateful to the players who made the trek. A special shout-out to Gavin Munson, who couldn’t play due to injury but made for an awesome assistant coach, a keen-eyed stats keeper, and a vocal supporter.

At the end of the match, we learned that Dover (along with Londonderry from last week), will play in the end-of-season tournament at Concord. These rematches can’t come soon enough.