Marauders Beat Con-Val 3-0 in Tournament Opener

Hanover opened its NHIAA tournament campaign with a tidy 3-0 opening round victory over Con-Val on Thursday night before a boisterous Senior Night crowd at Merriman-Branch Field. The Marauders will now host a Quarterfinal Round game against Merrimack Valley Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Showing no ill effects from a week-long layoff, Hanover scored three times in the first half to take a commanding lead, and dominated the action in the second half despite clearing the bench. Eric Jayne opened the scoring with his team-leading 16th goal, followed by Hayden Pressey-Murray and Roland Hermann-Stanzel. Adam Kline Schoder had several attempts in the second half to complete the hyphenated hat trick, but to no avail.

Jayne and Ben Harris spent the first fifteen minutes of the match probing the Con-Val defense for weak spots, and Harris came close to scoring several times, just missing over the crossbar on one occasion with a quick turnaround shot. As the frenetic opening pace calmed a bit and the Marauders began to do a better job changing fields, the opportunity for the opening goal presented itself. Nate Hanna sent a crossing ball across the face of the goal to Sean Gemunden on the right side of the penalty area, and the senior midfielder laid it back to Jayne, who crushed the game-winner past Con-Val keeper Gavin Gorton.

With fresh legs in the match off the Hanover bench, the Marauders struck for a second score four minutes later. Isaiah Fariel controlled the ball on the right side and sent a cross in the direction of Jonathan Fenton. The ball went a bit long, and Pressey-Murray was in perfect position to roll the ball into the net past an out-of-position Gorton. The lead bumped to 3-0 with five minutes left in the half when Jayne, reinserted into the game for just such an occasion, hit a bad-angle burner that Gorton parried but could not control. The rebound came to Hermann-Stanzel at the top of the box, and he buried the ball for his second goal of the season.

Halftime was notable for a ceremony honoring the ten graduating seniors and their parents. Coach Grabill praised the players, crediting them with creating positive team chemistry and a high standard of unselfish team play. Those honored were: Sam Farnham, Jonathan Fenton, Sean Gemunden, Sam Gest, Co-Captain Nate Hanna, Ross Johnston, Co-Captain Dan Remillard,
Aaron Segura, Gunnar Shaw and Chris Tecca.

The Marauders shrugged off any temptation to let down in the second half, and quickly regained ironclad control of the match. Con-Val, limited to three very long range shots in the first half, were limited even further in the final forty minutes. Ten minutes into the half, seven of the starters departed, and Hanover's territorial edge remained remarkable. Brendan Barth and Hermann-Stanzel took over quarterbacking duties at midfield, and Sam Farnham and Kline-Schoder continued the excellent team play on the flanks. Chris Tecca took over for Remillard at center back and was seamless on half a dozen plays that came his way, heading the ball with accuracy and anticipating plays with laudable efficiency.

The remainder of the back four left the match with ten minutes remaining, and Hanover's eighth shutout of the season was never in jeopardy. Connor Bentivoglio was particularly strong at right back, combining athleticism with excellent soccer sense.

The Marauder win was their ninth in a row this season, and was their 17th consecutive victory in post season play, dating back to 2006. It marked the first time this season that Hanover has shut out the opposition three matches in a row.

Next up is a Merrimack Valley team that is unusually familiar with Merriman-Branch Field. The pride visited Hanover three times last fall, losing 1-0 to the Marauders in the regular season, and then beating Lebanon in a first-round playoff game. That victory, then as now, earned them a quarterfinal game with Hanover, and again the Marauders eked out a 1-0 decision. Remarkably, the Pride returned again earlier this season and for the third time in three matches, they lost to Hanover 1-0, this time in sudden death overtime on Sean Gemunden's cross-turned-shot-turned-goal.

For the fifth time in a little over a year, the Pride will return on Sunday, boasting one of the most capable strikers in Class I in Aaron Smith, who will spend this Friday evening trying to defeat thr Marauder football team in his capacity as Merrimack Valley's placekicker. Smith tallied the lone goal against Bedford Thursday in the Pride's first round victory over ninth-seeded Bedford.

"We've been in this situation before and I am confident that we will be able to focus well and play consistently," commented Grabill. It's the goal of every team to be playing their best soccer at the end of the season, and we are close to that goal. These games seem to bring out the best in us, and we are eager to embrace the opportunity that we have on Sunday."