Varsity Beats Goffstown 5-2 in the Rain: 7th In A Row

 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 Bears lost the ball in their own end, and Goffstown's Austin Morin launched a high, hopeful ball from right in front of the Hanover bench that curved majestically toward goal and sailed over Wyatt Seelig's head to catch the far side netting just under the bar.  To call it a lucky strike would be an insult to lucky strikes everywhere.  Morin had no idea where his shot was headed, but that's futbol.

Hanover proceded to launch a continuous attack in search of the go-ahead goal that lasted for the rest of the half.  The numbers are pretty impressive:  The Bears launched 23 shots and had 9 corner kicks. Zach Tracy and Andrew McGuire had six shots each.  Goffstown would occasionally collect the ball at midfield and immediately kick it forward, hoping something good would happen.  The Hanover defense was tested twice.  Once, Seelig made a decent save on a high shot, and once Carer Guerin made a rally, really good recovery run to tackle an attacker who could have caused some trouble.  Finally, just before the interval, McGuire collected his second goal of the night and 8th of the season, assisted by Forbush, whose assists from the right flank are going to keep coming for the rest of the year.

The Bears didn't relax with a 2-1 advantage in the second half, and one of their 8 corner kicks produced the third goal off the night.  Sam Ames header Carter Guerin's corner off the bar, collected the rebound, and bundled the ball into the net for a 3-1 lead.   Goffstown's occasional forays into the Hanover end gave Seeling an chance to make two good saves, but Carter  Guerin finally collected a vital insurance goal at 71:12 after he was hauled down in the box for the second time, and converted the spot kick to make the score 4-1.  The three-goal advantage lasted exactly 34 seconds (c'mon, people!) before a nice Goffstown rush into the Hanover end pulled a goal back.  Tracy restored order at 74:12, burying a rebound from a McGuire shot to make the final score 5-2. The five goals were the most conceded by Goffstown all season.

Hanover returns to the road on Tuesday with an away match at Exeter, their home away from home.  The Bears played three games in eight days last year in their dramatic march to the NHIAA D1 finals, including a 1-0 win over Exeter.  The Hawks will be looking for revenge, but Hanover has a chance to show what focus and hard work can do.