Oyster River Summary

HANOVER BOYS BATTLE OYSTER RIVER TO A SCORELESS TIE

The Hanover High boys faced their toughest test of the season Saturday, battling longtime rival Oyster River to a scoreless tie in two overtimes. With seconds left in the final extra session, Bobcat goalkeeper Zack Benuck made a spectacular save on a Ben Rimmer penalty kick to keep the Marauders off the board and end Hanover’s winning streak at eleven. The match was contested with playoff intensity, featuring resolute defense which denied several good scoring chances at each end. Hanover outshot Oyster River in every period, and was particularly dominant in the final ten-minute overtime. Despite outshooting the Bobcats 6-0, the Marauders were whitewashed for the first time this season, and for the first time in 26 games, dating back to last season’s strikingly similar 0-0 draw with the very same side.

The Marauders survived a rocky start when Nate Hanna cleared a ball off the goal line in the third minute after a bad angle shot got by Sam Gest. Although most of the first half was contested at midfield, Hanover slowly began to establish a territorial edge, although none of the shots that they generated could be classified as challenging.
Despite some good work by Bobcat midfielder Owen Gehling, the same could be said for the home side, and both squads dug on for a defensive chess match. Given the outstanding work of the back line of Mike Tecca, Dan Remillard, Nate Hanna and Lou Gemunden, Hanover was more than equal to the task.

With Hanover Captain Trevor Barlowe languishing on the bench with a bum knee, Gunnar Shaw started his first match since the season opener, and acquitted himself well in the holding midfield spot. Yosef Osheyack was the Marauders’ best middie on the day, contesting fifty-fifty balls with ferocity and making superb recovery runs to shore up the defense.

The second half was a carbon copy of the first, with even fewer shots on goal by each team. Oyster River had a legitimate threat midway through the period when they were awarded a free kick just outside the Hanover penalty area. Ramzi Bensaid whistled a hard shot that was headed just under the crossbar, bur Gest made a surehanded save that inspired his teammates. It was Oyster River’s last real challenge, although Hanover was just getting started. Several Marauders made key contributions off the bench in the second half and subsequent overtimes. Ben Harris spelled Shaw a center midfield, and showed that he was definitely ready for prime time. Miles Peterson did some excellent work subbing at striker, and Joe Carey and Chris Jayne gave some good minutes when Nate Hanna had to recover twice after hard tackles that were a tad on the late side. Although the match featured a number of physical plays, it never lost the opportunity for classy moments, such as the sportsmanlike exchange typical of top-notch teams after an Oyster River player went down. Gest tossed the ball out of bounds near the Hanover goal to stop the clock, and there was no question that the ensuing throw-in would be served right back to him, as it was.

It was with a sense of resignation that the two sides entered into the two extra periods of sudden death soccer. It was also at this point that Hanover clearly established themselves as the team that wanted to win. Peterson had two good cracks in the first ten minutes, the second of these coming after a nice feed from Oscar Eriksson at midfield. Yosef Osheyack created a great chance for Kevin Dade in the second, but the lanky target man was unable to work free from close range. As time wound down in the final overtime, Lou Gemunden launched one of his well-placed free kicks into the Oyster River box, and a Bobcat defender committed an obvious push, earning a penalty kick with literally no time remaining. Rimmer, successful on several penalty kicks early in the season, stepped toe the spot and hit a hard right-footer that would have required a great save to stop it. Benuck was equal to the task, diving to his right and making a sprawling save. The rebound popped free, and it appeared that Nate Hanna would get to the ball first. He was bundled off the play and his shot was snuffed, and it would have been asking too much to appeal for a second penalty. The match ended in a draw.

Having victory snatched away in the final minute made the tie a bit tougher to take, but the Marauders took a lot away from the match, knowing that there were many lessons to be learned from facing adversity on a number of levels, as had been the case all day. Although the draw snapped their winning streak, their unbeaten skein remained intact, now numbering 39 games. Next up on the schedule is the long trek to Kennett on Tuesday, and an opportunity to see if the Marauders are ready to apply their new-found knowledge.