Hanover Loses Title Game Rematch 2-1 To Nashua South

Hanover’s title game rematch with unbeaten and nationally-ranked Nashua South lived up to expectations as a hard-fought, high-level battle between two of the top teams in the state.  Although the Bears held a territorial edge and dominated statistically, they fell short by a 2-1 score, taking an early lead but then giving up two goals and failing to equalize.  Now 3-3, Hanover has played three consecutive matches against unbeaten teams, all tight contests.

 

The match started in the best possible way for the Bears. Less than three minutes into the match, a series of quick passes gave Jack Gardner the ball on the right baseline, and his quick centering pass across the face of the goal found sophomore Andrew McGuire alone in front, where he first-timed a shot for his first varsity goal and a 1-0 lead.

 

The Bears continued to maintain an edge in play, although Nashua South’s pressure at midfield made them work for everything.  Zach Tracy got loose in the box after a corner kick and got a shot on goal, forcing Purple Panther goalkeeper Ansh Khanna to make one of his two saves in the half.

 

Nashua South demonstrated how quickly they could flip the script, however, as senior Jadiel Bomfim, an All-State selection touted as one of the best strikers in the state, got lose behind the Bear defense on the right side, bearing in on keeper Ty Nolon and sliding the ball past him to tie the match at 1-1.

 

The Bears responded well, and were on the front foot for the rest of the half, creating several good opportunities. Sam Calderwood penetrated into the Nashua South box and got off a close-range shot that Khanna got a glove on, but failed to stop completely.  As the ball rolled toward the vacated goal, a Panther defender intervened to sweep it off the line. Sean Smith had two bids, rolling one shot wide of the post and having another blocked by a defender.  A well-placed free kick by Ryder Hayes from the left side just missed connecting with two Bear attackers at the far post.  With two minutes remaining in the half, Andrew McGuire got on the end of a Carter Guerin cross and volleyed a shot over the bar.  It would have been a spectacular goal.

 

As expected, Nashua South awoke at the start of the second half, and had several potential threats.  Ty Nolon easily handled a header from the Panthers’ one corner kick of the half, but a South counterattack 15 minutes after the interval proved to be more damaging.  The Panthers converted a 2 vs. 2 situation into the go-ahead goal when Sam Haduche got loose on the left side and hit a perfect centering pass top Santi Sornorostro, who eluded his defender and drilled a shot inside the left post.

 

With 25 minutes to play, Hanover created a number of chances, although an unfortunate few of these found their way to the goal. Two free kicks from scoring range resulted in shots that were wide and high.  Jack Gardner blazed a shot from the right side that barely cleared the crossbar.  Andrew McGuire broke into the box but had the ball blocked off his foot before he could shoot.  Jack McGuire’s corner kick found Zach Tracy at the far post, but his header was off target.  Hanover had a total of ten shots and seven corner kicks in the half, but came up empty.

 

In many ways, Hanover’s position resembles their status at exactly the same time last season.  Following their 1-0 lass to Nashua South last year, they completed a stretch of three games without a win.  From then on, they blazed a path all the way to the NHIAA D1 finals.  The 3-3 Bears have weathered a tough stretch, and although there are still a number of tough games in front of them, they have amply demonstrated the potential to go on another sustained run of success.  Their first step will be a challenging road match at Windham on Saturday.