JV1 Rallies to Beat Bishop Guertin 8-2

 Fresh off their 1-1 draw in one of the best games of the year against  Manchester Central (more notes on that game once coach Willie finds his hands on the NFHS footage, but highlighted by Ian Press’ immaculate free kick goal and two second half saves by Christian Blix), Hanover JV1 would take the road one final time during the regular season with its match at Bishop Guertin in Nashua on Tuesday.

The game would have an unusual inauspicious start for the Hanover. BG opened the scoring off a long through ball that the trailing BG striker swooped in on, taking advantage of a level of miscommunication over who was going to clear the ball, and poking it home to give BG the early 1-0 advantage in the fourth minute. Hanover would rebound quickly with a quick one-two combination between Sam Calderwood and Soren Stettenheim that Stettenheim finished with authority over the keeper in the sixth minute. BG would start to take its chances from distance as they entered the attacking third knowing that Wyatt Seelig in net had not only the sun to deal with but also having a third of his box being a baseball infield. In the eleventh minute Seelig had a long chance on goal glance off his hands and had the ball rolling toward the goal line behind him. Seelig would use his incredible nimbleness to take three steps back and make a diving punch to keep it from being a goal. After one of Seelig’s excellent punts, Hanover would earn an attacking third throw-in that would prove fruitful. Cam Forbush tossed it to Ian Press by the corner of the 18; Press would feel the defense collapse around him and wisely slid the ball across to Calderwood, who finished with ease. BG would not go quietly, however. Disappointed by the result of their previous chance, the BG winger took a shot from a similar area but this time Seelig would be blinded by the sun and couldn’t corral it, knotting the score at 2-2 in the 23rd minute. Hanover  would start to elevate their level of play and started forcing their hand by playing many through balls down the middle and pressing the opposition relentlessly. Calderwood would be played through and  took a touch before calmly finishing another goal in the 26th minute. Continuing the pressure, Augie Krawitt won a tackle off the outside fullback and gave a strong strike to finish into the far post in the 32nd minute, making the score 4-2. 

In the second half, Hanover redoubled its efforts and looked to keep the ball more than they had in the first. Hanover kept much of the possession in the attacking third to start the half with Cam Forbush and Freddy Mierke pressing forward keeping the ball in. When BG would get the occasional runner toward the goal Ethan Munson, Davey Tolliday and Sam Loescher each had turns steering the ball away from trouble. As Hanover started to have better build ups, Calderwood played Krawitt for a one-two that Calderwood would mis-hit with a slow roller the that the BG keeper lackadaisically tried to trap with his foot only to have it scoot under for Calderwood's hat trick goal, making the score 5-2 in the 55th minute. With the miscue, Hanover would sense that they had BG on the ropes and made some final pushes to set them apart. Veer Patel would receive a ball from Calderwood and split two backs as he entered the 18 then scored on a clean ‘meg of the keeper, increasing the lead to 6-2 in the 61st minute. Patel would reciprocate the favor and played Calderwood into the 18 where Sam deftly cut back making their center back miss and potting his 4th goal to push the lead to 7-2. BG would get just a couple opportunities in the final 20 minutes. BG would play a good diagonal ball into Hanover’s defensive third but Christian Blix was positioned well and met the wing to deny any amount of the goal mouth. A few minutes later, a long bounding ball into the 18 had Blix high off his line looking to pull the ball in but a BG player headed it and Blix had a swatting play to deny it making its way to goal. Hanover would reassert itself and spent much of the final 10 in the attacking third. Aidan Bradley had several good crosses in. Marco Rodriguez dazzled with his footwork and danced through several defenders. Mierke would clean up a loose ball on the 18 take one cut back and finished in the 75th minute to close scoring at 8-2. A final corner by Krawitt sailed right to Forbush’s head but was driven into the outside of the net just before the final whistle.

Hanover will host Winnacunnet this Thursday for the final regular season game.