Best Match of the Season: Freshmen Tie Pinkerton 3-3

 Today the Freshmen travelled 90 minutes south to Pinkerton Academy to face the 5-0 Astros for our first game in over 3 weeks. Does that sound like a recipe for success? Yes, of course it does! The Bears broke out for their best game of the season, tying Pinkerton 3-3 in a game that could easily have tilted a few goals in our favor.

Ronan and Nick—in his maroon and white debut—came to play. 2 minutes into the game, precise passes between them allowed Ronan to penetrate deep into Astro territory, where he was fouled hard and “flew” to the ground. (One suspects Ronan’s been taking acting lessons on the weekends!) Once the penalty was called, Ronan leapt back up to his feet, set the ball on the spot, and drilled his shot into the upper left corner of the net. 1-0 Bears.

While Hanover played hard and earned their chances throughout the half, Pinkerton stormed back with goals in the 33rd and 37th minutes. They're not ones to back down, and it was 2-1 Astros at the half. While the Bears came into the game, unfortunately, intimated by Pinkerton’s record, our first half play left us confident that we could not only keep up with their hosts, but we could best them.

In the 51st minute, Ronan delivered an encore; he earned another penalty in the box and buried another perfect PK. Not 6 minutes later, Ronan had the ball on the endline 5 yards out and snuck in a goal between the post and keeper. 3-2 Bears—the hats flew off the crowd’s heads! Hanover’s chances continued, and Pinkerton (especially their keeper) was up to the test. In addition, we had a penchant for aiming shots towards the near post, which tended to miss the frame. In the 75th minute, Pinkerton’s patience and poise paid off, with a diagonal ball that snuck behind our entire back line to their awaiting striker, who slotted the ball past Jackson. Tie game.

With 5 minutes left, Hanover continued to press and defend with a confidence we’d yet to see in games. (It also helped that Jackson made a beautiful one-handed save with one minute left in the game.) When the final whistle blew to cement the 3-3 tie, everyone knew we had played an excellent game against a talented opponent…and that we could’ve played even better when it came to our shot selection and defense against crosses and through-balls. Still, the bus home was a deservedly proud one.

Up and down the field, the Bears turned in their best game of the season. In goal, Jackson made key saves and was patient with his kicks down the field. Sam B and Phin played 80 minutes of stellar defense: covering for their wing backs when they pressed, challenging and winning 50-50 balls, and passing balls to the feet of our midfielders. On the wings, Finn and Noah played with a level of intensity and poise we had yet to see on pitch: Pinkerton struggled to mount any serious attacks down the sides. So too did Alex and Gabe slow down the Pinkerton attack and poke away balls when their strikers stumbled. Out on the left and right of the midfield, Connor, Duncan, Nick, Oliver B, and Oliver J were terrific two-way players. (Though truth be told, Nick and Connor, also making his debut, still have a bit of conditioning work to do to return to game-shape.) When these five players were on the field, they hustled back and forth and created over a dozen chances for us down in our attacking half. In the middle, Jack, Jojo, and Sam J played better defense, made better passes, and controlled more of the game than ever before. Finally, up top, Casper, Jacobi, Liam, and Ronan pressured every ball the Pinkerton defense possessed and took more shots than in all of our previous games…now we’re waiting for more of those shots to be on target!

When the Bears maintain their shape, put pressure on the ball, and make smart passes to their teammate’s feet, they’re a force to be reckoned with. We’ve got two more games this week to keep the momentum going!

- Coach Hirschhorn