Varsity Locks Up First Place With Win at John Stark

The Marauders closed their regular season with an efficient 2-0 win against John Stark on Tuesday, locking up first place in the NHIAA Class I standings, and ensuring the top seed when the Tournament pairings come out next Monday. Ben Harris scored twice to pace Hanover to its seventh win in a row, and Sam Gest keyed a strong defensive effort with an excellent performance in goal.

It took a while for the Marauders to get untracked at both ends of the field. Offensively, Hanover was unable to take advantage of the spacious John Stark pitch, and showed impatience, settling for long crosses that were easily handled by General goalkeeper Josh Levandowski. The Marauder defense uncharacteristically gave away a number of corner kicks, although they handled these dangerous restarts well. John Stark's one scoring bid came on a quick shot by Kyle Morin from 12 yards out that was acrobatically parried over the bar by a diving Sam Gest.

Hanover slowly warmed up on offense, and broke through on the 36th minute on a brilliant shot by Ben Harris, who hit a perfectly-aimed ball from outside the penalty area that beat Levandowski to the far corner for a 1-0 lead.

Trusting their ability to build their first half efforts, the Marauders came out brightly in the second half and never lost their grip on the game. They spent most of the half in John Stark's end, and did a better job of linking short passes at midfield. In the meantime, the back four of Dan Remillard, Nate Hanna, Gunnar Shaw and Matt Barth calmly blunted almost every General counterattack. The one time striker Stephen Johnstone leaked through on the right side, Sam Gest came out well to cut the shooter's angle and gobbled up his close-range shot.

Hayden Pressey-Murray and Trey Rebman did a nice job on the left flank, creating several good scoring chances, and center midfielders Joe Carey, Aaron Segura and Roland Hermann-Stanzel were outstanding at both ends of the field. After several near misses, including a Remillard header off of a Forrest Pratt corner kick and a beautifully-made shot in traffic by Isaiah Fariel, Harris put the icing on the cake in the 78th minute with a carbon copy of his first goal. The skillful junior worked free at the left corner of the penalty area and lashed a rising shot that beat Levandowski over his shoulder and inside the far post. It was Harris' tenth goal of the season and fourth in the past two games,and it nicely wrapped up the 2-0 victory.

The Marauders will be off for a week, and even though there are a number of Class I contests remaining, they are secure in the knowledge that their 12-1-1 record and strong Heal Point total will guarantee them the top seed in the Class I Tournament for the third year in a row. Brackets will be announced next Monday, and Hanover will host a first-round game on Thursday, October 29th. Their planed scrimmage with The Derryfield School, originally scheduled for Friday, has been placed on hold for lack of a venue. The HHS field hockey team will be hosting a second-round NHIAA playoff game during that time slot on Friday. Stay tuned for updates.

Seniors Chris Tecca and Sam Farnham both made well-earned starts for the Marauders against John Stark. Every one of the ten Hanover senors have now started at least one game, and Coach Grabill cited the group collectively after the game. "We are constantly asking the seniors to be willing to provide leadership," he commented. "We have always been fortunate in this respect, and it's one of the reasons Hanover teams have been so well-respected for both on-the-field success as well as sportsmanship. This senior class has been exemplary. Every single one of them has been a superb role model, and we will be reaping the benefits of their leadership not just throughout the remainder of this season, but for years to come". The seniors and their parents will be honored at the Oct. 29th game at halftime.