Freshmen Drop a 4-2 Road Decision to Portsmouth

Saturday's Freshman game at Portsmouth was a tale of two halves. Perhaps our early wake up and long-distance travel had taken a toll on the team: in the first half vs. Portsmouth, we were out-hustled, out-scored, and generally out-played. After opening the scoring with a Ronan/Gabe goal (a hard shot by Ronan was deflected into the net by Gabe, stationed a few feet in front of their keeper), Portsmouth answered with two of their own goals in quick succession. 30 minutes in, Hanover was called for a handball in the penalty box, which Portsmouth quickly converted. Not two minutes later, a Portsmouth striker collided hard with Jackson, and both went down. While Jackson got up quite quickly, the Portsmouth player seemed unable to put weight on one of their ankles. They were eventually helped off the field and attended to by a trainer, which left Portsmouth with only ten players for the remainder of the match.

It was hot out, Portsmouth was short handed, and Hanover had plenty of subs…all of which set the stage for a vastly improved second half. For 90% of the final 40 minutes, Hanover kept the ball in the attacking half. While the occasional punt bounced past the half way line, all but one of the Portsmouth advances were quickly turned back around. (Alas, Portsmouth netted another goal towards the start of the second half on a rare defensive lapse.) Jackson was often quick to collect the ball and dole it back out to Finn, Noah, Sam J, and Gabe, who helped start our attacks as wing backs. Sam B and Phin tag-teamed staying back to command the defense and  taking up space in the midfield to keep us attacking on offense. On the right flank, the Olivers (J and B) made pinpoint pass after pinpoint pass to Jojo, Dennis, and Jack in the middle, all of whom kept their cool, kept their heads up, and kept putting pressure on Plymouth with shots and through balls galore. After a Jojo goal midway through the second half (a rocket from 25 yards out), Hanover was fired up and ready to fight until the final whistle. On the left, Duncan and Micah challenged every 50-50 ball. Up top, Liam, Jacobi, and Ronan zig-zagged through a Portsmouth defense that had swelled to seven strong by this point. Ronan was particularly relentless, with a half dozen shots in the final 30 minutes that forced the Portsmouth keeper to play a nearly perfect game (which, to his credit, he did).

Finally, a special shout out to Nick and Carl, both of whom are injured and unable to play…and joined the team anyway! They helped warm up the keepers, they helped collect supplies, they chased missed shots and loose balls, and they kept our energy up on the sidelines. They’re true examples of what it means to be a team player!

It’s frustrating to travel so far on a Saturday morning only to come up short…but the frustration at the end of the game stemmed not so much from the result but from the fact that we didn’t bring our second-half play to bear for the full 80 minutes. That’ll be an area of focus in the games and weeks ahead.  The next match is a welcome home game against Bedford on Tuesday at Dresden.