Hanover Boys Soccer 2023

 The Bears braved the elements Friday night at Goffstown, beating the Grizz on their fancy new turf field 5-2.  It was Hanover's seventh win in a row. Their 9-1 record keeps them in second place, half a game behind 10-1 Goffstown.  Andrew McGuire had two goals to pace Hanover, and Zach Tracy added his team-leading 11th goal and team-leading 8th assist. Carter Guerin and Sam Ames each had single goals, and Sam finally connected on a corner kick, kinda. The game kicked off in a pouring rain that lasted all evening, but the Bears stayed focused and immediately laid siege to the Goffstown goal. Zach Tracy's bid off of the first of 17 (!) Hanover corner kicks was saved, and Charlie Forbush's sweet driven cross scored through the box with not takers on the other end.  Ryder Hayes filled a shot just past the post and in the 11th minute McGuire put the Bears on the board, taking a nice feed from Tracy for a short shot. Hanover's lead lasted exactly 38 seconds.  The Bear...

 Hanover registered a workmanlike 5-0 victory over Merrimack on Tuesday, taking control off the match early and wining their sixth game in a row, running their record to 8-1 on the season. The Bears remained in second place in the Division One standings, half a game behind front-running Pinkerton Academy. It didn't take long for Hanover to take the lead.  Less than two minutes had elapsed when Andrew McGuire did a tightrope walk on the baseline the right of the goal, shedding two defenders before squaring the ball to Will Guerin at the far post.  Guerin played the ball back to the right post, and Zach Tracy was there to pop the ball into the net for his 10th goal of the season. Even though the Bears were missing three starters, they were able to maintain a firm grip on the game, keeping the ball on the floor and building patiently.  Sean Smith continued his superb play on the right flank, Schuyler Clapp was strong at center back, and Joseph Rudd played particularly w...

 Matches against teams with losing records are dangerous.  There is a danger that the opponent will be taken lightly.  There is a danger that the stronger team will play down to the level of the weaker one.  There is the danger that a slow start will first up the underdog and frustrate the favored team.  Hanover shrugged off all of those potential pitfalls Tuesday and rolled over a weaker Alvirne team, rolling to a 6-0 halftime lead and cruising to a 7-0 victory.  Many of the objectives for the game were accomplished:  The Bears got the win, earned the clean sheet, and saw a lot of deserving players got quality time.  Hanover is now 7-1 after five wins in a row, and sits solely in second in the Division One standings. Alvirne tried hard to play the right away. They were skilled enough to link passes and challenge possession, and after an early spell of Hanover possession, they earned the first dangerous shot of the game when a two-on-two break gav...

 Home again after three challenging games on the road, the Bears took an early lead against a strong Windham team and won a satisfying wire-to-wire 3-2 win. The win was the fourth in a row for Hanover, giving them a 6-1 record and ,moving them up in the Division One standings to second place. Windham entered the game with an identical 5-1 record and plenty of motivation, having lost to the Bears in the D1 semifinals last year,  a 3-0 decision which avenged a 5-0 regular season loss.  However, it was Hanover on the front foot right from the start, beginning with a Zach Tracy shot that hit the post in the opening minutes, followed by the now-predictable Sam Ames header on the first corner kick. Less than seven minutes into the match, Andrew McGuire gave the Bears a 1-0 lead when he found enough time and space at the top of the box to last a left-footed drive past Jags goalie Black Berton for his fifth goal of the season. Four minutes later, Will Guerin's hard work on the le...

The Bears overturned a frustrating four-year losing streak against Nashua South, rallying from an early deficit to beat the Purple Panthers 3-1 in a rematch of the past to Division One title games. Now 5-1 on the season, Hanover has won three road games in a row.  Stellos Stadium is their new home away from home. Nashua South star Santi Somorrostro, last fall's NH Gartorade Player of the Year, staked his team to an early lead, sprinting past the Bear defense on the left flank and sliding a pass to Steve Long for an easy put-away and a 1-0 lead after only two minutes.  Hanover tightened things up immediately, and set about the task of finding their way back into the game.  Ryder Hayes just missed a nice flick header on an Andrew McGuire free kick, but South kept threatening.  Wyatt Seeling made a spectacular save on Long from point blank range to keep his team in the game, and the Bear back line did an excellent stepping together to catch Somorrostro offsides repeated...

The Hanover JV2 Bears opened their season with a strong team showing against the visiting Kearsarge. Thursday's heat proved only a slight obstacle for the JV2 Bears boasting a 24+ player roster. With quick rotations, all match long, each player on the team was able to make a meaningful impact. Hanover started play quickly with positive wing-play from seniors Aidan Bradley and Jack Wilkinson. Aaron Nyhan played as the link between the lines, and the spine of our team was held together by a rotation of Davey, Liam Foston, Blake Bouchard, Luke, Guillem, Alex Cheney, and Gabe Clkerin in defense and central midfield. Hanover scored the first after our wing-play won us a corner. Patrick Donegan thundered in a header from 10 yards out. We kept the pressure immediately after kickoff and after a few more minutes of battle in Kearsarge's half, Jack Wilkinson found himself alone on the left side of the box, the Senior Captain slid the ball under the goalkeeper and inside the near-post to...

 Still smarting from their loss to Bedford and a mediocre effort against Keene in a 3-1 "bounce back" win, Hanover shocked themselves Saturday night at Manchester Memorial, scoring early and often to win 7-0 in a match that was shortened by lightning. The Bears entered the matchup with Memorial warily, fully aware that they had beaten Bedford. It would not take long to discover that Hanover had the right mindset to play Memorial right off the park, with six first-half goals.  The first of these was the most attractive, with senior defensive midfielder Ian Press crushing a left-footed volley from 25 meters in the fourth minute.  It set a perfect tone for the Bears, whose calm ball control at midfield gave them a one-sided edge in play.  Andrew McGuire was being played through all night, and just missed a breakaway bid, rolling a shot just past the post. Hanover calmly reloaded time after time, and just before the 19-minute mark a foul in the Memorial box gave the Bear...

 The freshmen eared their first win of the season Saturday with a 4-2 victory at Concord.  The Cubs entered the match having drawn Derryfield 0-0 in a lightning shortened debut match Friday.  Saturday's match gave them an opportunity to play a full match, and they embraced the opportunity with improved finishing and timely defense. Hanover jumped out to an early lead on a goal by Brendan Tomlin, and soon thereafter they increased the lead to 2-0 on a goalazo by Henry Caterini.  Hayden Clapp started the play with quick thinking, pulling off a short corner that allowed him to feed Caterini for a bad-angle shot that chipped the Concord goalkeeper. Concord, which had earlier beaten Portsmouth 8-0, showed how dangerous they could be, penetrating deep onto the Hanover box before talented striker Sumaili Rumadhen hit the crossbar.  Five minutes before the end of the first half, the Crimson Tide narrowed the lead with a goal resulting from poor coverage deep in the Hano...

 Things looked bright for Hanover in their Friday evening clash with Bedford.  The Bears has rolled to easy victories in their first two games, and confidently anticipated another good result against the Bulldogs, who has lost their opening game to Manchester Memorial.  Less than seven minutes into the game, a dazzling sequence of precise passes got the ball to Sean Smith on the right wing, and Smith's precision pass across the face of the goal gave Carter Guerin a tap-in for a 1-0 lead. It soon became clear, however, that the skilled Bedford team had come to play.  The Bulldogs had a distinct edge in play.  They did a good job bottling up Hanover's dangerous offense, and found plenty of weak spots in the Bear back line.  Hanover got several "let-offs" that kept them in the lead, including clear found not called (this stuff cuts both ways more that selective recollection allows), balls off the bar, and several excellent saves by goalkeeper Wyatt Seelig, who...