Two days after their scintillating victory over Central, the Marauders survived a soggy slugfest with a determined Concord squad, breaking a 1-1 tie with 12 minutes to play on Charlie Adams' 12th goal of the season.
It would be hard to say that Hanover had a hangover, given that they marched straight down the field 53 seconds after the opening kickoff and took a 1-0 lead on an Amane Matsuoka goal, assisted by Eli Stack. Eli played Amane into space on the left side of the penalty area, and he beat Concord goalkeeper Abbas Abdulrahman with a nice left-footed finish. Charlie Adams had a dangerous bid seven minutes later that was saved by the Tide keeper, and at the 14 minute mark Stack turned Matsuoka loose again Wirth a carbon-copy pass, only two watch Amane flick the ball wide of thee post.
Coming of an impressive 5-1 win over Windham, Concord showed their poise with two dangerous shots by striker Alasdair Ferrier, who mad beaten Hanover with a goal last year, and midfielder Mosi Masimango. Blake Palmer ripped a dangerous blast midway through the half, and shortly afterwards Matsuoka had yet another scoring bid, forcing Abdulrahman to make a good save. Concord nearly tied the match with 10 minutes to play in the half, hitting a close-range shot that hit the football crossbar. Concord was coming too close for comfort.
The Marauders started the second half on the front foot, as Blake Palmer forced a near-post save on a dangerous opportunity. Concord responded almost immediately, as Ferrier hit the crossbar nearly scored again, this time bouncing his shot off of the soccer crossbar. Eli Stack nearly gave Hanover a two-goal lead five minutes in, missing a close-range shot just wide of the upright, and then putting a shot over the bar from six years out.
Both teams were frustrated by what they saw as inconsistent officiating, and each side claimed legitimate calls for penalties. The Marauder managed to maintain their composure, but the same could not be said for the Tide, who saw two yellow cards.
Free kick master Charlie Adams saw a bid from outside the penalty area cleared off the goal line by a defender stationed on the post with 20 minutes to play, and shortly afterwards the Marauders really rued all of the missed opportunities when Concord tied the match on a bad-angle shot by Faisal Abdullah that deflected off of a defender and found the far side netting. The Tide then almost took the lead, as a drive off a short corner by Aleho Cacernes sailed over the bar.;
This would have been a great opportunity for Hanover to panic, but such was not the case. The Marauders put their heads down and went to work. With 12 minutes to play, they found pay dirt when midfielder Eric Ringer sent a long ball into the box that connected with Adams, who settled the ball, beat a defender, and slotted it home to regain the lead. Hanover kept coming. Hard-working Henry Aspinwall created an opportunity for Stack, whose far post shot sailed wide.
Concord had one more opportunity, and it was a good one. Mercurial midfielder Duvan Morikawa-Montenegro found space and time on the left side on a quick counter, but was foiled by Marauder keeper Joey Perras, who made a spectacular diving save to preserve the win.
It wasn't pretty, but the win gave Hanover a 7-1 record halfway through the season, and jumped them into second place in the Division One standings behind frontrunner Bedford. "We'll try to learn some lessons from this," commented Coach Grabill. "We got a result, but we need to do better." They will have that chance on Tuesday, when the travel to Hudson to face a surprising Alvirne team, enjoying their best season in years.
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