The Hanover High - Oyster River soccer rivalry is one of the oldest and most storied in state history. No teams in the top tiers of the NHIAA have won more championships, or been to the finals more often. Hanover has 16 titles to its credit, and Oyster River is close behind with 11. They have met in the finals four times, with the Bobcats holding a 3-1 advantage. Between 1997 and 2003, Oyster River won the Class I title five times, beating Hanover in 2001 and 2003. That's just in the Finals, folks. There have been many, many other great games in the semifinals and regular season. Prior to beating Lebanon in the Finals in 2006, Hanover dispatched OR in the semifinals 1-0 in sudden death. Even more recently, the Marauders topped the Bobcats in a shootout in the 2008 semifinals prior to winning the title against St. Thomas. The last three regular season games between the teams have been scoreless ties.
That's the back story, and it means that honoring the history of the rivalry requires nothing less than a great effort. The Bobcats came to town for the first time since 2006 and played their first game ever on Merriman-Branch Field. It was a march worthy of the legacy, with Hanover scoring two second-half goals to beat Oyster River 2-0 and stay undefeated in the current campaign with a 6-0 record.
Eric Jayne, hounded by effective man marking the entire game, showed his maturity and patience, waiting for just the right opportunity to score the game-wining goal midway through the second half, heading home the rebound of a wicked Pedro Celaya shot for his seventh goal of the season. Trey Rebman added an insurance tally with seven minutes to play, also assisted by the hard-working Celaya.
The story of the game, however, was Hanover's relentless, effective team defense. For the second Saturday in a row, the Marauders manned up against a playoff-quality opponent and shut out the opposition. The Marauder back line of Matt Barth, Robin Smith, Hayden Pressey-Murray, Connor Bentivoglio and Evan Greenwald (with a late cameo by Joe Carey) did a thorough job of containing the Bobcats and limiting them to a handful of long-range shooting attempts.
The Hanover midfield was just as effective in contributing to the clean sheet. The aforementioned Mr. Carey teamed with Ben Harris to turn the center of the park into a Bermuda Triangle for Oyster River. Their ball-winning and distribution was what gave the Marauders a territorial edge. Although the score at halftime was 0-0, there was a sense of inevitability that this advantage would manifest itself in some timely goals, as was also the case a week earlier.
The first half was not without offensive initiative, particularly by the home side. Jayne shook loose for a pair of decent looks, and his running mate Celaya was also dangerous. Ben Harris just missed connecting on a nice feed from Jayne, and freshman phenom Daniel Hazlett had a wicked drive blocked. By, um, Harris. Late in the half, Oyster River got their one legitimate opportunity when Andrew Gass, still smarting from his beating in ping pong the night before by Brendan Barth, shanked his chance on the right side of the Marauder penalty area.
It didn't take long for Hanover to start cooking in the second half. Before the first minute was gone, Eric Jayne dispossessed OR defender Brogan O'Rourke and his a hard, low shot near side that forced a diving dive from Adam Goodwin in the Bobcat net. The ball squirted loose to the right, and Jayne had a bead on it before he got hauled down. The non-call actually worked to Hanover's advantage later in the game when Bobcat striker Alex Hennessey went down in the Hanover box on a 50-50 ball. It made it much easier to swallow the whistle on that call, given the precedent that was established. That's why we hope you folks in the stands weren't too demonstrative when Jayne went down. Jayne certainly wasn't. He put his head down, got back to work, and fifteen minutes later duplicated his feat of a week ago, scoring a crucial second half goal to put Hanover ahead to stay in an important game.
The Marauders continued their second half habit of clinging to a lead by pushing hard for a second goal. Ryan Brigham, Roland Herrmann-Stanzel and Keegan Gantrish gave not just relief but energy at midfield. Ian Strohbehn and Daniel Hazlett provided some punch up front, with Hazlett creating a couple of woulda-coulda-shouldas. When Matt Barth came out with a tweaked ankle, Joe Carey slipped into his center back slot,and Jayne reprised his center midfield chores that he did so well two years ago. With nine minutes left to go, the starters came back in and pout the hammer down with Rebman's first goal of the season, aided by Celaya's fourth assist.
Oyster River kept working hard, and created some decent opportunities. The biggest challenge for Stefan Dyroff in goal, aside from a few shots that were well-struck but right at him, was a long, lofted free kick that came sailing into a crowd in the box. Dyroff determined that the ball was his, and elevated courageously to get after the ball. He was hit hard and knocked over with a fair challenge by striker Steve Luna, but left the unmistakable impression that he owned his area. It was a strong-statement by another of Hanover's big-time players.
Both teams, joined by the JV teams from both schools (with OR's crew celebrating a streak-busting 1-0 win against Hanover) gathered for a cordial BBQ picnic on the HHS Cafeteria terrace in the afternoon's warm sun. It was a nice end to a positive weekend of good soccer and generous hospitality. Thanks so much to the many families who hosted Oyster River players, and to the tireless crew who who fed well over 100 players and parents.
Hanover returns to action Tuesday night, with the Varsity travelling across the river to play Hartford at 5:30 on the Hartford High football field. The JV will stay home and play their Hurricane counterparts at Merriman-Branch Field. Kickoff time is listed for 7:00 p.m., but may be a bit later because of some tight scheduling.
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