JV2 and Freshmen Cap the Season With a Classic

 Soccer seasons don't always end the way they are drawn up. The best laid plans can be waylaid by pandemics, bad weather, and bad fortune.  But good luck, and great results, are sometimes the residue of good planning.  After a long, long season (since June, for many of these players), it would be understandable if fatigue and stress and ennui would make it hard to stage an epic game.  Yet on Wednesday afternoon, with the slanting sunlight illuminating the dappled orange foliage surrounding The Pasture, the JV2 and Freshman teams staged a classic.  The final match in a long intramural series was the best one played, and came down to the wire before the Freshmen eked out a 2-1 victory.  It was truly, though, a match with all winners.  Both teams shrugged off distractions, made no excuses, and went after each other with skill and tactical maturity. The depth and quality of the Hanover program was on full display.

The match started typically, with the Freshmen gaining a territorial edge, but unable to crack the well-organized JV2 defense in front of surehanded keeper Christian Blix.  The front four of Nick Reiss, Freddie  Mierke, Sam Caldwell and Veer Patel did a nice job of controlling the ball, enabled by center midfielders Sayan Bhattacharya and Wyatt Seelig.  The JV2s counterattacked  well, despite missing leading goalscorer Soren Stettenheim, called up to JV1 duty. Liam Wordin and Alex Bracket, the remaining two legs of the Triangle of Death, did a good job getting the ball to Ayaan Ahmad and Ruslan Henry on the flanks, and Augie Krawitt up top. Freshman defenders Sam Loescher, Justin Dickson, Davey Tolliver and Joseph Rudd held firm in front of Iver Skogerboe in goal, who was less busy than his counterpart, but made the save on the game on a hard drive by Wordin, a foreshadowing warning shot.  Fittingly, the first half was scoreless.

The Freshmen started the second half with confidence, but it was the JV2s who struck first. Liam Wordin finished a twisting skill run and got loose in the box for a blast that gave his team a 1-0 lead.  Undaunted, the Freshmen stayed calm, and used the strong midfield play of Jack Wilkinson and Aaron Nyhan to maintain control. They tied the match on a nice piece of passing, with Mierke getting loose on the left flank, and finding space to center the ball the Trevor Lichtenstein.  The loquacious Swiss Army Knife flicked the ball into the path of Pat Donegan, who finished clinically.  This young man is a true striker.

Both teams battle back and forth, looking for an equalizer.  Coach Grabill hedged his bets and wrote names on his pad, just in case there was a shootout.  The boys on the bench agreed that at the very least Davey would do some damage. The Freshmen had an edge, with players like Paul Ashton and Liam Foston playing their best soccer of the season. With the sun setting, and less than five minutes to play, Sam Calderwood decided the game with a brilliant goal. A lead pass out of the Freshman end toward a streaking Calderwood landed exactly halfway between him and goalkeeper Blix, who came off his line decisively and with courage. He has learned so much in this aspect of his game, and was within inches of making one the the best saves he has made this year.  But Calderwood also made a great play, with exemplary courage, leaping at the last minute and barely heading the ball over Christian's outstretched fingers.  The ball bounced with agonizing deceleration into the open get, and the game was decided. The JV2s battled for an equalizer, but the cruel clock ran out, and as Bhattacharya slowly pulled himself out of the mud, having been deposited there by a Brackett hip check, the Freshmen saluted their weary opponents.

It was, as we have said, a brilliant game. One of the biggest reasons for this has been the season-long contributions of JV2 Coach Ian Caldwell, the Dean of the Front Desk, and Freshman Coach Jason Hirschhorn. Both newcomers to the staff, though no strangers to the Beautiful Game, they have imbued their teams with resilience, tactical maturity, and positive team chemistry.  The Marauder program is so much stronger as a result.

There is still more soccer to be had! Both teams will train tomorrow, and on Friday both will play one more time in big games.  The JV2s will merge with the JV1s (likely to be cancelled with Keene) and have a final, fully-refereed match at the Pasture.  The Freshmen have been honored to be asked to play once more against the Girls' Varsity, on Friday at 3:15 on the turf.  The Marauder girls will not be traveling to Keene, and they need strong opposition before they confront Concord in their D1 Tournament debut on Tuesday night.  The Freshmen are that team.