JV1 Ties Unbeaten Windham 1-1

 The JV1 Bears looked get back on track following the 0-5 result vs Nashua South earlier this week, but it would no easy task facing Windham’s undefeated JV Jaguars. 

Hanover would find itself with an early chance in the 4th minute where the a free kick 25 yards out. Joseph Rudd would take the kick dangerously into the 6 but the Windham keeper was able to corral it. The JV Bears would trade chances and give up a free kick to the Jaguars 3 minutes later, but it would be turned aside in similar fashion to Hanover’s by Wyatt Seelig deny any second chance. Joseph Rudd would have yet another chance from a similar area as his first free kick in the 11th. This second free kick was more dangerous flying right over the penalty spot and narrowly missing Alex Orsino’s head. Hanover would continue its pressure through the middle third with disciplined positioning from Ian Holmes and Joseph Glass holding at center mid. In the 12th minute, the Jaguars would play a dangerous ball middle but Liam Foston would be first to the ball and denied a real chance. After being subbed on, Henry Werner made an immediate impact. In the 15th minute, Wyatt made a perfect throw to Henry’s feet in the middle third. Henry would take two touches before springing Aidan Bradley with a line breaking pass into the attacking third. Aidan would take a touch towards goal and seeing the Jaguars’ keeper closing centered it to Lionel Ndong. Lionel centered the ball and shielded it well before Henry ran on to it and tucked it away neatly to give Hanover the lead in the 16th minute. The JV Bears lead would be short lived however, with the Jaguars showing why they are undefeated converting on a centered ball from the corner in the 25th. Hanover would make several good switches in the attacking third getting good width from Ben Thaler-Wellborn and Noi Larusson (getting a run at the wing). Despite the quality build up, the score would stay knotted at 1-1 through the half.

The second half would see both teams trade some quality chances. Hanover would see it’s first chance of the second half in the 45th after Andrew Rudd earned a free kick with his pressure forcing a hand ball 25 yards out. Ian would take a cheeky low hard shot just around the wall forcing the Jaguars’ keeper to make a diving save. Alex Orsino would be first to the rebound but was closed hard and couldn’t get a shot off. 9 minutes later, Freddie Meirke would show off his dribbling skills and earned a foul as a Jaguars player kicked at his ankles as Freddie dribbled past. Having warmed his leg taking free kicks in the first half, Joseph Rudd would make a big switch finding Alex on the opposite side of the 18. Alex was able to style the ball and the Jaguars keeper closed; Alex was able to flick it past but narrowly missed the frame. Windham would start to play with greater urgency and started to find open spaces deep down the outside. Teddy Abbate, Sebastian Burarski, and Taehan Kim would each have excellent instances of standing up the opposition and denying plays into the middle. Schuyler Clapp and Davey Tolliday would center the back line down the stretch taking turns making runs back deterring the Jaguars’ forwards from getting clear looks. The Jaguars seemed to wake up and play better than they had into the final 15 minutes. Wyatt would make 3 saves, and forced a poor shot by coming hard off of his line, down the stretch to keep the game tied through full time. Even though the JV Bears didn’t come out victorious, a 1-1 draw vs a team that has been as good as any other we have faced is a quality showing. The JV1 Bears will look to get back in the win column next Tuesday when they travel to Alvirne.