Hanover Beats Windham 3-0 to Gain a Berth in the D1 Finals

  

Hanover played its best game of the season at the most crucial time, thoroughly dominating Windham 3-0 in the NHIAA D1 Semifinals and earning a trip to Sunday’s championship game.  It’s Hanover’s second straight title game, and it will be a rematch with Nashua South, which outlasted Hanover a year ago in penalty kicks.  The Bears’ semifinal victory over the Jaguars was their 12^th straight win, and it avenged their most recent loss, a 5-0 debacle in Windham a month ago. Since that low water mark, Hanover has slowly and patiently improved, waiting for opportunities that have put them within reach of their third D1 title.

 

The Bears dominated the Windham match at both ends of the field, taking an early lead on the first of two goals by Ryder Hayes, and closing the Jaguars down en route to their fifth straight shutout, and tenth of the season. All of Hanover’s defenders closed ranks, knowing that if each of them stepped up a bit, they would be able to compensate for the loss of Becket McCurdy in the middle of the park. This win was for the big guy.

 

Hanover knew that they had grown a lot as a team, and they knew that a tournament match on turf would be different than their ugly road loss on grass.  Still, Windham was number one seed for a reason, and the Bears entered the match with caution, especially given Mc Curdy’s loss.  It didn’t take long, however, to see that Hanover was clearly the better team.  The Bears moved the ball crisply and efficiently, and Windham was chasing the game from the start. Less than nine minutes into the match, Hanover converted their edge into a critical-life-giving goal.  Carter Guerin and Ryder Hayes combined on the left margin of the penalty area, and Carter played a short back pass to Hayes, who drove a hard shot through a crowd into the back of the net.

 

Windham got a good chance at the 12 minute mark after an Owen Smith foul at the top of the box, but the Hanover wall blocked JoJo Guarnaccia’s shot.  They it was Hayes back on the attack, narrowly missing a heading opportunity on a Jack McGrath chip into the box.  Then it was Hayes on defense, executing a nice tackle on big Jack Runde on a run into the penalty area.  Ty Nolon came off his line well to make a nice clear on a 50-50 ball, taking a foul in the process, and Windham finally managed a shot on goal at the 20 minute mark, easily scooped by Nolon.

 

From that point on, the match belonged to Hanover, whose control of the game resulted in long stretches of possession and multiple scoring chances.  Andrew McGuire microwaved his way into the lineup, and he nearly connected on a corner kick header, Will Guerin hit a long, looping shot from the left side that came close.  McGuire then came closer, crushing a shot off the crossbar. 

 

Nolon came off his line superbly to snare a long free kick in traffic on one of Windham’s increasingly rare trips into the Hanover end, and then the Bears went back to work.  Will Guerin, who had broken his arm at the end of the Windham loss, announced his complete recovery with a deft move in the box that resulted in a clumsy foul and a penalty kick for Hanover.  There was no question who would take it.  Ryder was feeling it, and drove the spot kick home with authority, stutter step included.  The 2-0 lead actually seemed even larger.  There was still work to do, but after Owen Smith closed the half with an emphatic tackle, Windham’s body language as they came off the field suggested that they knew it was over.

 

The Bears started the second half with the same calm assurance all over the field, and Jack Gardner announced the team’s intentions with a hard run into the Windham box that ended with a hard lefty drive.  Shortly afterwards, Zach Tracy made a marvelous pass to send Gardener into the box again.  Hayes blazed a shot over the bar at the 50-minute mark.

 

Windham had some fight left, and worked free for several shots midway through the second half,  all of them handled with aplomb by Nolon, who made a wonderful diving save to his right on a close range shot by Ryan Husson, who had penetrated dangerously into the box.   Hanover responded with several good chances, including a great buildup that resulted in an offsides call on Gardner.  Zach Tracy was denied on a great save by Windham keeper Bake Berton, and Ryder Hayes ripped a shot that was blocked out of bounds for a corner.  

 

A dangerous trip on Hayes resulted in a Windham yellow card, and then Noah Winchester saw yellow with 13 minutes to play for a foul at the edge of the box that gave the Jaguars a free kick that was subsequently headed out of harm’s way by Alex McGrath, who was superb in the air all night.  Hanover looked ready to play out the string, but the task got ever so much easier in the 75^th minute when Tracy picked up a ball at the top of the box at speed and ran deftly downhill through three Windham defenders before slotting home his second goal in two games and sixth of the season.  The Bears played corner ball and keepaway from the dispirited Jaguars, and the business trip was successfully concluded.

 

Hanover has one more match on the revenge tour, and the opposition is formidable.  The Bears will face a Nashua South team that has beaten them three games in a row, including last year’s title game and a 2-1 loss on Hanover home turf earlier this year.  Kickoff at Bill Ball Stadium, the which has now been renamed the Bears’ Den, is 1:00 Sunday. Hanover fans are notorious for blowing off midweek semifinal games, but they do well at title tilts, so the Bears are hoping for a little love.