Last Week of The Regular Season

 Amazingly, we have reached the last week of the regular season, which is also the culminating week for the three subvarsity teams, each of which ends the week with a big event.  The Freshmen and JV2 will spend the first part of the week training, while the JV1 and Varsity each play Tuesday and Thursday.  There's a lot going on!.

The Freshmen will have the day off Monday, JV1 and JV2 will train at the regular time at Dresden,  and the Varsity night owls will once again close out the day on the Turf, with a 7:30 - 9:00 session.

On Tuesday, the JV1 and Varsity will take to the road to Nashua for games at Bishop Guertin.  JV1 will play the Cardinals at the school field on Lund Road at 4:30, and the Varsity will play at Stellos Stadium, which will be the site of the Division One Semifinals and Finals. Kickoff is at 6:00.

All four teams will train on Wednesday, and then Thursday the JV1 and Varsity teams will play their regular season final games against Winnacunnet at home at 4:00. The Varsity game will include Senior Day festivities, and all parents of the seniors are invited for a brief but heartfelt ceremony at halftime. Hanover Soccer tradition calls for fewer bells and whistles than some programs, but the seniors on the Varsity are very deserving.  They have led their team in so many ways.

The Varsity will be off Friday, as three Hanover teams vie for playing time on the turf, and the other three teams will prepare for their concluding activity on a busy weekend.  Both JV2 and Freshmen teams play Saturday. The Freshmen will employ their well-honed early departure skills and depart Hanover at 6:45 for Concord, the site of the eight-team tournament that is the unofficial championship for Freshman sides. Hanover will play in a four-team group that includes Concord, Manchester Memorial and Winnacunnet, a new face.  The top two teams in the group advance to the semifinals.  The JV2 team heads to Cardigan Mountain School for an 11:00 match on Parents' Weekend, which amounts to a one-game tournament.

On Sunday, the JV1 team will depart at 5:45 for Nashua and the Roger Desmarais Tournament, played at both North and South high schools.  This is the less unofficial JV state championship.

On Monday, the seedings are released for the NHIAA Division One Tournament, and it is almost certain that Hanover will be hosting a first-round game on Tuesday, October 26th.  Should they win, they will play in the quarterfinals on Friday, hopefully at home.  Check the blog on Wednesday morning for playoff bracketology.

In the meantime, the JV1, JV2 and Freshman teams will participate in the very important process of returning uniforms and practice gear.  There is a lot of it out there, and we need every bit back, including socks. Many players have been issued more than one uniform, and many have at least one practice jersey.  We need it all back.    Our replacement budget is microscopic.  We need to have everything washed, folded, bagged, and clearly labeled with the player's name.  Freshmen and JV2 players are asked to bring everything to school on Monday, and JV1 players on Tuesday.  Please, please don't make us chase players down for this. Coach Grabill will be in the front lobby on both days to collect everything.  If we can get everything collected, we can focus our attention on our gala end of season celebration.  Stay tuned for details.

It has been a memorable, successful season for all four teams, with plenty of thrills in yet in store.  Let's do our best to finish in style by honoring the game in every way.



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