The Hanover 2010 winning streak reached 13 Wednesday with a well-played 7-1 victory over a young Milford squad. The Marauder starters scored three times in the first thirteen minutes of the contest, which allowed a number of the reserves to get ample playing time. Eric Jayne figured in all three of those goals and ended the day with a goal and three assists. That gave him a career total of 44 goals and 19 assists, tying him with Ben Mackinnon for the all-time point scoring title.
After a series of one-touch passes down the left flank between Jayne and Ben Harris, to Isaiah Fariel on the doorstep and the junior striker notched his second goal of the season at 9:10. Three minutes later, Joe Carey threaded a ball to Jayne at midfield. Jayne tapped it ahead to get some space, burst ahead of the pursuing defenders, and ripped a shot form well outside the penalty area that grazed the underside of the crossbar and dented the ground over the goal line. Less than a minute later Jayne returned the favor, hitting a cross into the box that Carey headed home for his third goal of the season. Matt Barth wrapped up the scoring midway through the half, cramming home a rebound after a hard shot on goal by Keegan Gantrish from the right side.
The starters got a brief cameo at the start of the second half, long enough for Jayne to slip the ball to Ben Harris in front for a clinical finish and Ben's seventh goal of the season and fifth in the last four games. Just like last year when he finished with 11 goals, Harris is getting hot when the weather turns cold. Good timing. Joe Carey bailed out the back line with a goal-mouth clear before heading to the bench.
Subs kept rolling off the bleachers, and all 27 players who made the trip got good chunks of playing time. As was the case with Tuesday night's game against John Stark, the reserves put together some of the best sequences of the game. Alex Dodds hit a backwards header that just kissed off the crossbar. Evan Greenwald just missed connections on a ball in front. Ian Strohbehn came oh-so-close on several of his four shots.
Pedro Celaya collected his second goal in two games, dispossessing a Milford defender and racing in off the left side before burying a hard shot that that was nevertheless less potentially dangerous that Tuesday night's laser that nearly saw off the John Stark goalie's hands. The score was Celaya's seventh of the year, rewarding a great deal of hard work and focus. Ryan Brigham collected his second goal in two days and third of the season, racing into the goal mouth to hammer home a header on a Chris Harwick's free kick. The helper was Harwick's first career point.
Unfortunately for the back line, they couldn't maintain their focus for the full forty minutes, and allowed a Milford striker to slip through for an uncontested breakaway on an undeserving Andrew Brown with less than two minutes to play. Despite the loss of the clean sheet, the afternoon was a clear success. Scoring 13 goals in less than 24 hours and playing a superb game on a grass surface was enough to put the Marauders in a good mood as they savored their 25th consecutive win.
The current winning streak started just after Hanover's last trip to the Lebanon pitch, and that's where the Marauders are headed on Friday afternoon for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Both teams see the match as a valuable playoff tuneup, and there's a lot on the line. The Raiders have everything to play for, since they can lock up a home game for the first round of the NHIAA Divison II playoffs with a win. They are well-coached, athletic, committed and one of the best teams in the state on restarts. Hanover's got its hands full.
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