Marauders Beat Lebanon 2-0 in Playoff-Quality Game

 Games between Hanover and Lebanon have always let the teams bring out the best in each other. Thursday night on the Merriman-Branch turf was no exception, as the two teams battled for 80 minutes with playoff intensity before two goals in the final 13 minutes gave the Marauders a well-earned 2-0 victory.  Murphy Hunt and Will Guerin scored in a three-minute stretch, both assisted by Zane Schiffman, and Hanover's record improved to 7-0-0n with two games remaining in the regular season.

The Marauders had beaten Lebanon 2-1 on a last minute goal by Evan Nichols early in the season, and after a steady menu of earnest but undermanned Division Two and Three teams, they were anxious for a quality match.  Lebanon, despite a week-long Covid layoff, was more than willing to play the role of potential spoiler.

Hanover established a good territorial edge in the early going, and began to knock on the door in the 7th minute after earning their first corner kick, with Jackson Lake drifting a shot wide after a clearance came to the top of the box.  A minute later, after corner kick number two, Nathan Subrahmanian came a lot closer with a similar shot. Subrahmanian had another crack barely a minute after that, but his shot from outside sailed into the net behind the goal.

Eric Ringer set up a great opportunity in the 17th minute, working free for a cross from the right flank that Pierce Hamlin volleyed off the outside of the left post.  Not long after, Jacob Kubik-Pauw worked free on the baseline on the left side and ripped a bad-angle cross that sizzled through the box on the ground, finding neither the far corner nor a far-post finisher. 

Lebanon was organized on defense and hard-working at midfield, but their forays into the Marauder end were uneventful. Daniel Mladek got his head on a ball that floated past the left posts and Emmanuel Bello hit a soft shot from 16 yards out that went straight onto Ty Nolon's waiting arms, and that was about it.

Hanover had a few more looks before the end of the half.  Jackson Lake nearly redirected a ball on goal with a header, and then Will Guerin had an acrobatic swing and miss on a left-footed volley after a long, hard run.  Guerin then closed the half with a long, high shot into the night, nearly clearing the net.  His second half would be better.

Hanover continue to press in the second half, unveiling a three-box-four formation that asked the attacking center midfielders to do a lot of the heavy lifting.  Murphy Hunt missed a sitter last the left post in the 47th minute, and later in the half Ryder Hayes unleashed a series of long-range salvos, one of them forcing a diving save from Lebanon goalkeeper Ryan Tanski With the game still scoreless, Lebanon had a good bid with a two-shot flurry that forced Nolon to make two quick saves, the second a clutch stop on a quick shot by Bello. 

Hanover continued to tilt the table toward the Lebanon end, showing better fitness and better work deep in midfield, thanks to Alex Stevens and Subrahmanian.  Up front, Oscar Miller broke in alone and forced Tanski to make a good save, and then in the 67th minute Hanover seized the lead.  Zane Schiffman chased ball deep into the right corner and beat his defender, firing a left-footed cross that had just enough juice to find Hunt high in the box.  Murphy calmly slotted the ball home with a sweet left-footed shot, collecting a memorable first career goal.  Schiffman wasn't done.  Less than three minutes later the junior winger slotted a ball through the Lebanon defense that found Will Guerin, and the Lyme-Lyme connection resulted in a great goal for a game-ending two-goal lead.

The Marauders skillfully managed the last 10 minutes of the match, and emerged with their best win of the season, so far. Hopefully, even better challenges await.  The Marauders have a pair of games next week with Keene, traveling south on Monday and then returning to host the Owls to end the regular season.  Keene pushed Hanover hard in last years's D1 tournament quarterfinal.  They are well-coached and have a very good junior goalkeeper, Charlie Zwierzchowski.  Grateful for every chance to train and play, the Marauders are happy to be here.