Annual Alumni Game Set For Saturday

The HHS soccer season will close the same way it opened, with a match against the Alumni. Kickoff is set for 12:00 at Merriman-Branch Field on Saturday, November 27th. A girls' alumni game will follow at 2:00 p.m. All alumni are invited to play and/or watch. The old boys are currently riding a one-game winning streak, having beaten a then-young varsity team on August 18th.

Boys' Teams Honored at Soccer Awards Night

The curtain came down on the Hanover High soccer season in fine style Friday night, as players and parents from all three teams gathered for a night of celebration. A crowd of over 100 enjoyed a sumptuous potluck dessert buffet, followed by team introductions and awards, the third annual music recital, and the debut of the 2010 Varsity highlight film.

The following players were honored:

Varsity

Sportsmanship: Joe Carey
Most Valuable Player: Eric Jayne
Most Improved: Tor Hathaway
Unsung Heroes: Joe Carey
Trey Rebman
Coaches Award: Isaiah Fariel
Rookie of The Year: Daniel Hazlett
Defenders of The Year: Matt Barth
Robin Smith
Goalie of The Year: Stefan Dyroff
Goal of The Year: Ben Harris
Pedro Celaya

Junior Varsity

Sportsmanship: Jack Lightbody
Most Valuable Players: Rocco Linehan
Zach Taylor
Unsung Hero: Duncan Piper
Rookie of The Year: Christian Johansen
Defender of the Year: Daniel Osheyack
Attacker of the Year: Xavier Tchana


Reserves

Most Valuable Players: Alex Brown
Brendan Rhim
Most Improved: Parker Gardner
All Around Players: David White
Jordan Levin
Oren Wilcox
Leadership Eben Holbrook
Captains: Alex Brown
Sawyer Brooks
Eben Holbrook
David White
Rookies of The Year: Isaac Davis
Miles Campbell
Number 11 Award: Philip Caffrey

Eric Jayne is an All-American!

Eric Jayne has capped his amazing senior season by being named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America team. He is the only player from new Hampshire to be voted to the team, and one of only 60 in the entire US.

Jayne becomes only the fifth player in Hanover history to achieve All-American status.
Ned Harris was a two-time All-American in 1978 and 1979 before playing for Yale, where he was Captain of the team. Graham Sellers was named to the team in 1980, and subsequently played for Williams. The two most recent All-Americans are familiar to Hanover fans. Tommy Clark, who went on to star for Dartmouth, was an All-American at HHS in 1987. He is now Head of Grassroots Soccer, and one of Dartmouth's most celebrated young alumni. Jamie Clark led Hanover to consecutive NHIAA titles in 1992 and 1993, and was named to the 1993 All-American team. He went on to play for Stanford and later in the MLS, and is now Head Coach at Creighton University after a stint at the help of Harvard.

Eric Jayne Honored as Athlete of The Month

The postseason honors continue to pour in for Hanover Captain Eric Jayne, who was honored today as the October Athlete of the Month by the Manchester Union Leader, New Hampshire's statewide newspaper. This honor is open to any athlete on any level. In a given month, professional, college and high school athletes are considered, and evaluated by a panel of judges.

The Union-Leader honored Jayne for his record-breaking season, making note of his October goal that broke the all-time Hanover scoring record, and his six postseason goals that helped the Marauders win their sixth straight state title. He will be honored at the Annual Union Leader Parade of Champions early next year, the largest sports award gathering in the state.

Five Marauders Named to All-State Team

Five members of Hanover's Division II State Championship team were named to the NH Soccer Coaches Association All-State team. They will be honored on Sunday, December 5th at the NHSCA Awards Ceremony.

Seniors Eric Jayne and Ben Harris received First Team recognition. Seniors Joe Carey and Stefan Dyroff and Junior Robin Smith received Honorable Mention recognition.

Jayne and Harris both received All-State honors in 2009, and it as Jayne's second year on the First Team. Jayne led the Marauders in scoring with 17 goals and 12 assists, and this year became Hanover's all-time goal scoring leader with 50 goals and all-time scoring leader with 17 points. He led the Marauders with 6 goals scored in four playoff games. Harris was second on the team with 9 goals, and was second last year as well. He scored the crucial first goal in the State Championship game, and was honored for Goal of The Year with his sudden death game winner in Hanover's 2-1 victory over Lebanon. Harris has 23 career goals, good for 19th on the all-time scoring list.

Joe-Carey, a Co-Captain with Jayne, was on the All-State team for the second year. A two-year starter at center midfield, Carey scored three goals and had two assists, and was known for his shadowy defensive ability. Dyroff recorded 8 shutouts this season, and allowed only one goal in four playoff games. He was the Most Valuable Player in the NHIAA Division II final with a career-high seven saves. Robin Smith was a first-year starter at center back, and was honored along with Matt Barth as the team's Defender of the Year. Smith, Trey Rebman, and Roland Herrmann-Stanzel are the Captains for the 2011 Marauder team.

Postseason Awards Update - Twin State Teams Named

As the Marauders savor the success of their 17th NH Championship, they are also celebrating a number of post-season awards which will be announced in the weeks to come.

It was announced today that seniors Eric Jayne and Ben Harris will be representing Hanover and the State of New Hampshire in the annual Lions Twin State Soccer Cup all star game next July. The two Marauder stalwarts will be part of a 22-member squad of the state' best seniors who will play against their Vermont counterparts at Castleton State College next July.
'
The Lions Twin State Cup is the second-oldest NH vs. VT all-star game, surpassed only by the Shrine Football Game. It is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Lions' sight assistance programs.

Marauders Beat Bedford 2-1 to Win NHIAA Title #17

The Hanover Marauders added a new chapter to their illustrious history with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Bedford in the NHIAA Division II Championship game Sunday Night. The win was the sixth consecutive one for Hanover, and the 17th overall. Ben Harris and Eric Jayne scored crucial second half goals for the Marauders, with Jayne's game-winner breaking a 1-1 tie with less than three minutes left in the match. It was his 50th career goal in the 50th year of Hanover soccer. Senior goalkeeper Stefan Dyroff was the man of the match for the Marauders, making several outlandish saves to keep his team in the game during many stretches when a young, talented Bedford team dominated the action. The Bulldogs outshot Hanover decisively in the first half, and only Dyroff's heroics kept the match scoreless.

Hanover ends the season with a record of 17-1. During their six-year stretch of state titles, they have lost a total of six games. No other large school team has even won more than three titles in a row. Hanover's total of 17 championships puts them fourth nationally in that category. They are in every respect the most successful program in New Hampshire history.

That said, it is important to separate this team and this season from that long and proud history. What this team has accomplished stands by itself, and is unique in many respects. With a 28-man roster, this edition of the Marauders was constantly called upon to deal with reduced playing time, and accept roles that asked them to consistently place the team's needs ahead of their own. This championship is truly owned by everyone on the roster. More immediately, the team's amazing depth played a role in the victory over Bedford. Eighteen players participated in the match, and it was hardly surprising that Hanover had the fresher legs at the end, when they finally took control of the game and created the critical goal.

The match started with Bedford firmly in control. The bulldogs, led by skilled forwards Erik Martel and Matt Cote, took the initiative and were a constant threat. Cote came closest, with a near miss just past the post, and only several star-studded saves by Dyroff kept Hanover from losing control of the match. Dyroff's best denial came on a quick deflection following a corner kick, and he ended the half with a total of five stops, as many as he had made in any single game this season, including the Lebanon semifinal. Hanover wasn't without their chances. Ben Harris whistled a free kick inches over the bar, and a few minutes later Joe Carey hit the shot of his life, a curling drive that barely missed the upper left corner.

Halftime was a valuable respite for the Marauders. With a little Gu in their guts and a chance to admire the amazing November sunset, thanks to Alex Dodds' insistence that they remain outdoors during the extended interval, Hanover rebooted and reminded themselves that they were a second half team. It didn't take long for them to prove the point, two minutes, to be exact. The long buildup to their first goal started with an innocuous and sensible backpass from Robin Smith to Stef Dyroff, who calmly snapped the ball across the box to Hayden Pressey-Murray, who relayed it to Trey Rebman, and so on, and so on. Trey played the ball to Eric Jayne in space, and Jayne relayed it back to Rebman, who took it to the baseline and hammered a cross into the box. Jayne and defender Mitchell Marchand jumped to vie for the ball, and it skipped into space in front of Bulldog goalie Taylor Wallace. Daniel Hazlett shocked Wallace with the quickness he employed to reach the ball first, and he was able to direct the ball to Forrest Pratt. The senior midfielder, saving his best game for the last one of his career, floated a cross back into the box and Ben Harris ran onto it like Stephen Gerrard, ripping a right-footer that shot off the bottom of the bar and into the net for 1-0 lead.

Bedford refused to wilt, and continued to play their disciplined. attacking football, using every inch of the field and every player on the park. Thirteen minutes later they did the nearly unthinkable and tied the match. Matt Barth and Robin Smith, who were towers of strength throughout the match, and played like the All-Staters they deserve to be, shared a brief moment of madness, and it cost Hanover the lead. Sullivan Holt played a routine ball straight to Smith, who let it clatter off his shins and into space. Barth stepped up to play the ball, but before he could get it Matt Cote swept in front of him, swept the ball away, and ran free to his left. Smith rallied to stay with him, but Cote would not be denied and closed on Dyroff, beating him short side with an absolute rip. (Sorry to be so detailed and unsparing. That's what happens when your blogger gets a game film immediately after the match. Besides, that was their only boo-boo of the night. Barth and Smith were otherwise absolutely lights out. True heroes. And this is an accurate blog. Usually.)

Now it was Hanover's turn to rally. They stayed calm initially, dodged a bullet when Dyroff came roaring off his line to deny Cote a second goal with a huge save on a semi-breakaway, and then got to work. Eric Jayne, whose hard work was mostly unrealized to this point, gave the team his best 20 minutes, creating all sorts of opportunities. Hanover had four corners in that stretch. The noose was tightening. Forrest Pratt was equally creative, sending Jayne in for a near breakaway with a deft chip over the top, and then zipping a throw-in down the line that let Jayne loose for a baseline run that sent the ball zipping across the goalmouth for a near miss.

Bedford had their bids against the run of this play. Martel hit a drive over the bar that was scary, even tough Dyroff had it covered all of the way. With three minutes to play, Martel blasted a shot off a quick turn, but he drove it straight into Dyroff's gut. That was Bedford's last gasp. Jayne grabbed the ball at midfield and fed it to Hazlett in the left corner. The fearless freshman crushed a cross that missed connections with Jayne, but Pratt was positioned perfectly, and first-timed a ball into the box that found Jayne, who unerringly made the last goal of his amazing career his most significant, a first-timer inside the right post. It was his sixth goal of the postseason, with at least one in each game, and two game winners. Seventeen on the season, and 35 in two years. He should be a high school All-American. You heard it here first.

The final 2.5 minutes were anything but perfunctory, what with Harris' gushing bloody nose, Roland Herrmann-Stanzel's timely clear, and the Marauders' collective cool. Soon the final whistle trilled three times, and it was time for the now-familiar pigpile in the shadow of the scoreboard. Hanover's getting to like games at SNHU.

Many of the game's heroes haven't been named yet herein. That's the risk of sports journalism written with an impending deadline. Happily, there is a long stretch of postseason to sort out all off the stakeholders who own a piece of this victory. At some point, a musty photo will surface of the 2003 Lightning U11 team, and bunch of eager 10 year olds playing eight-a-side for a crabby coach who even then had days when he felt too old for it all. Five of them were nothing less than the spine of Hanover's title team: Eric Jayne, Joe Carey, Ben Harris, Matt Barth and Stefan Dyroff. It's been a long haul for this fabulous five, and for the many cast members who joined them along the way. Their season-long leadership set the tone, and when they finally found an opponent gallant enough to truly make them earn their title, they were equal to the task. It's been a wonderful half-century for Hanover soccer. The start of the second half should be a lot of fun. Stay tuned!

Game and Practice Schedule Nov. 4-7

Thursday, Nov. 4


Varsity Practice 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. HHS Gym


Friday, Nov. 5

Varsity Practice 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. HHS turf


Saturday, Nov. 6

Varsity Practice 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. HHS turf


Sunday, Nov. 7


Div. II Final vs. Bedford at Southern NH University, Manchester 4:00 p.m.
Bus Departs 1:00 p.m.

Marauders Beat Lebanon 3-0 to Gain Div. II Finals

Hanover continued to play its best soccer of the season at the right time, scoring three spectacular goals to defeat defeat archrival Lebanon and earn a spot in the Division II Finals Sunday against Bedford. Eric Jayne and Daniel Hazlett combined to form a potent strike force in the first half, each assisting on the other's superb scoring strike to give the Marauders an insurmountable lead. The Marauder defense stayed airtight throughout the entire match, earning the team's third straight shutout, and Jayne put the icing on the cake with his fifth goal in three playoff games and sixteenth of the season to cap a sweet, sweet win.

The Marauders will return to Southern New Hampshire University on Sunday to take on a dangerous Bedford squad which bumped off top-seeded Merrimack Valley 1-0 with a late goal int he other semifinal. Hanover beat Bedford 1-0 earlier this year at Merriman-Branch Field and gained a lot ff respect for the young, talented team.

The Hanover-Lebanon match promised to be a good one. The Raiders had handed Hanover their only loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat that broke the Marauders' 25 game winning streak (13 in a row to start the 2010 campaign), and had accounted for Hanover's only two loses since 2006. They knew the Marauders well, and had no fear of them. On the other hand, this was postseason.

Lebanon started brightly, and created the first good scoring chance when (surprise, surprise) a long throw sailed into the box and eluded Marauder attempts to clear it cleanly. The ball worked its way to the back post and Avery Hymel's chance to stuff it home was denied by Stefan Dyroff, who came off his line and made himself monstrous to snuff the shot. For the rest of the half, it was all Hanover.

Eric Jayne has been playing at another level in the postseason, and having recorded 17 shots and three goals in the first two games, he was up to his old tricks again, eventually aiming seven salvos in the first half alone. Most of the early ones were speculative, and one was downright ambitious, but it was again clear that he had come to play, and would defy containment. He also had a head ball cleared off the line by a good defensive play, but he would not be the one to score first. As has been the case all season, however, Jayne has added a new dimension to his game this year, and he added to his team-leading total of assists at the twenty-minute mark, setting up Daniel Hazlett for the first and only goal that the Marauders would need. Gaining the ball at midfield and finding room to turn, Jayne thumped a lead pass into space for Hazlett on the right flank. The flashy frosh raced into space to possess the ball, and so for a moment did Lebanon goalie Austin Mansell, thinking that he could get there first. Hazlett was racing to the corner and well outside the 18, but he got his head up and saw the horrified Mansell backpedaling into his goalmouth. It would take a perfect shot to beat him, and Hazlett produced nothing less, lofting a shot over the stranded keeper and under the crossbar and into the far side netting.

Being down a goal this early was a harsh blow for the defensive-minded Raiders, but 10 minutes later they sustained a fatal one. Hazlett took a pass down the left flank and located Jayne at the top of the 18 with plenty of room to run. Hanover's talismanic forward calmly skinned a defender moving to his right and found even more space to shoot, crushing a shot back inside the left post for a 2-0 lead. The Marauders knew what this meant. A 2-0 lead is supposedly the hardest one to defend, but to the Marauders it looked more like 20-0.

The Marauders wisely kept attacking, and would eventually outshoot Lebanon 8-4 in the half, with a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. Jayne left his calling card early in the half, hitting a shot that was ticketed for the upper corner before Mansell made a sweet diving save to his left. In the meantime, Hanover was playing solid, effective teams defense, and never followed a small mistake at midfield with a bigger one in the back. Matt Barth and Robin Smith were brilliant in the air, and Joe Carey and Ben Harris were relentless in the center of the park.

Stefan Dyroff had several routine saves that he rendered harmless, and had his seminal moment on one of Lebanon's few long throws, ranging all the way to the top of the 18 to intercept one at the top of his leap. His third straight playoff shutout was well-earned.

The clock raced far too quickly for Lebanon, particularly as the half wound down and the Marauders went to the bench to bring fresh legs into the contest, getting excellent relief work from Roland Herrmann-Stanzell, Evan Greenwald, Ryan Brigham, Keegan Gantrish and Alex Dodds. Jayne, in the meantime, had one more message to send, working free on the right side of the Lebanon box in the final minute and bending a spectacular shot inside the left post for the final 3-0 margin of victory.

Hanover celebrated briefly, congratulated their gallant Raider rivals, and turned their collective thoughts toward Sunday's Championship match at Southern New Hampshire. "We'll have to be at our best to beat them," commented Coach Grabill. They played very well a month ago and it was all we could to to them in a close 1-0 game. I'd like to think that we have one more good game left in our systems before our season ends Sunday, one way or another. It's been a great ride, but we want to see if we can send out seniors out on a high note."

Spectator Bus Set for Wednesday Game

There will be a free spectator bus available for any Hanover High student (not limited to soccer players) available for the boys' playoff soccer game in Nashua on Wednesday. The bus will leave immediately after school, and arrive in time for the game against Lebanon at 4:00 at Stellos Stadium in Nashua. There is a $5 admission charge for students at the game. Approximate return time is 8:00 p.m. There are concessions and souvenir clothing for sale at the game. Students who have not yet signed up may do so at the HHS Athletic Office on Wednesday.