First Look at The Soccer Schedule

 Every day, things are becoming clearer about the soccer season ahead.  There is still much we don't know.  We are still evolving a transportation policy, still working on a spectator policy, and the schedule for our four boys' teams is a work in progress.  Nevertheless, there has been steady progress at Hanover High School in and out of the building, and today's smooth start for the 9th graders augers well for the year ahead.  Everyone is pulling together, and the students are holding up their end.

With that is mind, we are eager to release some of the matches that have been scheduled for all four teams. Scheduling has been challenge.  Three of our four teams (Varsity, JV1, Freshman) play Division One opponents.  Most of those schools are in the southern part of the state, outside of the 75 minute radius established for regional scheduling, and in cities and towns with higher Covid-19 counts. Scheduling local schools is a challenge, since playing our Varsity would result in a mismatch.  On the other hands, this will provide competition for our JV1, JV2 and Freshman teams, who in many instances will play the Varsity and JV teams from schools like Newport, Mascoma, Kearsarge, and Fall Mountain.  This means fewer matches for the Varsity, but the proximity of Division II powerhouse Lebanon and Hartford is a plus, and two matches with Keene, our only D1 opponent, means that all four teams will have good matches ahead. We may only have 4-8 matches, but that's enough in their strange year, and we can fill out the dance card with in house games.  The Freshmen match up well with JV2, and perhaps even better with the HHS Varsity Girls, their traditional in-house foe.

Tryouts begin on September 8th, and we will be able to have double sessions, with 4:00 p.m. workouts at Dresden, and afternoon/evening sessions on the HHS turf.  That schedule will be published in the next day or two.  After scrimmages on Saturday, September 12, we will name the four teams over the weekend, and spend the following week (Sept. 14-16) preparing for matches, with uniform distribution, team photos, and fine tuning. The season will start on Thursday, Sept. 17, with a 6:30 match between the Freshmen, led by Coach Jason Hirschhorn, and the Varsity Girls, the defending D2 state champions.  On Friday, Sept. 18, the first day of NHIAA competition, the JV2 squad, coached by Ian Caldwell, will host the Varsity team from nearby Newport at 4:00 p.m. on the hallowed turf of Megriman-Branch Field.  On Saturday, Sept. 18, Lebanon comes to town for a doubleheader on the turf, with JV1 playing at 1:00 and the Varsity at 3:00. After a decade, one of the best rivalries in the state resumes.  What a way to start the season!

The following five weeks feature a number of compelling matchups, and the full schedule will be published soon.  The season ends on October 23 with Varsity and JV1 matches against Keene at home. The following week, possibly, there will be an open tournament.  We know nothing about this yet, and will be grateful if we can make it that far and complete the regular season.  Anything after that will be icing on the cake.

In the meantime, we are hanging out at The Pasture and finishing two weeks of optional workouts under Phase Two, and looking forward to a long weekend with no soccer, the calm before a six-week stretch of soccer, gifted to us by the Soccer Gods.  Fingers crossed that this window of opportunity, coming on the heels of a magical summer, stays open. If 98 players do their part with mature adherence to the guidelines given to them, there's a good chance we can steal a season from the clutches of the pandemic.