Hanover Beats Manchester Memorial 1-0 For a Statement Win

The Hanover boys turned in their most complete effort of the young season Thursday, outplaying top-ranked and undefeated Manchester Memorial and earning a well-deserved 1-0 victory.  In recording their third straight win, the Bears combined an airtight defense with dominating midfield play and intelligent attacking, and sent notice that they will be a top contender in postseason play. There is still work to do, and the next two opponents for Hanover are the only remaining unbeaten teams.  But the Bears met a significant challenge, and played their best soccer of the season.

 

The first half of the game was mostly a midfield stalemate, with a small number of scoring chances as two of the top title contenders felt each other out. That said, Hanover was on the front foot, and Jack Gardner left a calling card four minutes into the match, finding space near the goal line on the right side of the goal and wheeling to ship a hard shot on goal that forced a good save by Memorial goalkeeper Hikmat Yousif.   Carter Guerin would have a good look from the top of the box that forced another save from the Crusader keeper, but for the most part, until the very end of the half, there were few fireworks.  Memorial recorded three shots, but none were on target.

 

The Memorial defense, spearheaded by highly-regarded center back Merim Husanovic, did a nice job clogging the middle, but Hanover’s improved ability to spread the field through the intelligent play of Will Guerin, Jack McGrath, Charlie Forbush and Ben Woods gave the Bear attack more room to create chances.  In the final minute of the first half, this finally paid dividends.  Will Guerin and Jack Gardner made a series of quick passes that gave Guerin a chance to attack the goal from an angle on the left that resulted in a corner kick.  Guerin whipped the corner to the near post, where Ryder Hayes met it with his head, flicking it into the mixer at the back post.  Zach Tracy was there in his happy place, and scored his second two-foot goal in two matches for a precious 1-0 lead.  It was a dagger in Memorial’s heart.

 

Hanover’s second half was a masterpiece.  The Bears dictated play throughout, outshooting the Crusaders 6-2, and recording six corner kicks to only one for Memorial.  Jack Gardner got things started four minutes after the interval. Whipping a low shot past the far left post from his right side sweet spot.  At the 53-minutes mark, Ryder Hayes broke into the box and his a hard shot that Yousif did well to save for yet another corner kick.

 

Memorial was always a threat, and the superb play of Becket McCurdy, Alex McGrath and Owen Smith were constantly under to defend individually against highly skilled attackers, head the ball out of danger, and play intelligently with the ball at their feet.  They never wavered.  The Crusaders got one of their few good looks in the in the 59^th minute when Nawran Mostafa cracked a hard shot from the top of the box that was blocked by Smith after Memorial’s sole corner kick.  The only other dangerous situation for the Bears was a free kick from well outside the penalty area that Husanovic, madly in love with his shooting ability, that did nothing.  Ty Nolon in the Hanover goal actually had no saves on the day, but his clean sheet was well-earned with his kicking game and general match management.

 

Hanover’s patient and persistent territorial advantage and offensive opportunism almost doubled the lead late in the game, much as they did in beating a good Bedford team a week ago, Carter Guerin got free on a counterattack, drew a defender, and dished a pass to Gardner on the right.

Hanover’s leading scorer broke into the box and hit a hard shot off the football crossbar that left a measurable dent.  After that, it was simply a case of good clock management, and Hanover had their statement win.

 

The Bears must now immediately turn their attention to their third match in five days, traveling to Memorial Field in Concord to face the 3-0 Crimson Tide.  Fortunately, Hanover’s deep bench has given them a chance to rest starters regularly in the past two games, and their should have plenty of juice.  Following Concord, the Bears return home on Tuesday for a championship rematch with unbeaten Nashua North.  This is the sort of schedule that would crush a lesser tam, but it gives Hanover to chance to play well and grow.  All eyes are on Corncord for now.  One game at a time. We’re only one quarter of the way through the young season.