HANOVER NIPS OYSTER RIVER IN SHOOTOUT; ON TO FINALS
The Hanover High boys’ soccer team beat Oyster River in a shootout after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer to advance to the NHIAA Class I finals on Saturday. The Marauders, seeking their fourth straight title, will face off against St. Thomas Aquinas at 3:00 at Stellos Stadium in Nashua, immediately after the girls’ Class I Final featuring Hanover and Hollis-Brookline.
After recording his third straight playoff shutout, Rhys Cyrus dominated the shootout for Hanover, stopping all three shots he faced. Hanover took an early lead on goals by Ben Rimmer and Henry Caldwell, and after Eric Jayne’s shot was saved and Cyrus made his third straight save, Yosef Osheyack lined up for an attempt that could ice the game and coolly connected on his shot before being buried by a wave of celebrating teammates.
Now 18-0-1 on the season, the Marauders have established a new school record by stretching their unbeaten streak to 46 games, the third-longest in New Hampshire history, and longer than any other Class I or Class L school.
The shootout win was well-deserved for Hanover, which outshot Oyster River in regulation and 40 minutes of overtime, but couldn’t connect on a number of scoring bids. The Marauder defense, which recorded its 14th shutout of the season and 29th in two years, limited Oyster River to six shots on goal.
The Bobcats created their best scoring chances of the match in the opening moments, as Jake Gross blasted a long shot from the left that was tipped over the bar by Cyrus. After the ensuing corner kick, Owen Gehling got a great look from the top of the box that sailed over the bar, and Oyster River spent the rest of the half playing defense. Eric Jayne retaliated almost immediately with a good-looking shot that just missed the far post, and Kevin Dade and Henry Caldwell both came close twice. Dade just missed connecting on a header that would have beaten Benuck after he ghosted past the Oyster River defense. Ben Rimmer came up just short after his anticipatory run left him just short of beating Benuck to the ball after another Dade header.
Hanover continued to have an edge in play in the second half, with several more near misses. Ben Rimmer had two hard shots on goal that were saved by Oyster River goalkeeper Zack Benuck, who also made a great stop on Henry Caldwell after a pirouetting move on the left baseline that saw him elude two defenders before Benuck snuck out the goal and made a daring dive at Caldwell’s feet to corral the ball. Although Oyster River was never able to penetrate the Marauder defense, they regularly mustered the skill and tactical ability to possess the ball and probe the outer fringes. Hanover defenders Mike Tecca, Dan Remillard, Nate Hanna and Lou Gemunden continued their spectacular postseason run of spotless postseason soccer, aided by the ferocious midfield defense of Trevor Barlowe. Bobcat scoring threat Ben Rollins had one hard shot on goal late in the half, but it was right at Cyrus, who never flinched.
The Marauders ramped up the attack in the first overtime, coming perilously close to scoring on several occasions. Lou Gemunden lofted a ball into the Oyster River penalty area that Dade headed across the face of the goal to Osheyack at the far post, where he narrowly missed tucking in the wining goal. Hanover was getting good bench minutes from several sources, and both Gunnar Shaw and Oscar Eriksson came close to scoring. Shaw just missed a header at the goal line, and Eriksson was open at the far post for Henry Caldwell’s cross, but his header was a few feet wide of the upright on the other side.
Both teams sagged in the second overtime, although it was clear that neither savored the idea of the looming 35-yard shootout. Neither side had the legs to accomplish much as the clock ran down, and they gathered at midfield to watch five shooters from each side take their allotted seven seconds to dribble in alone for a scoring attempt. Oyster River had advanced to the semifinals by beating Bow in the contrived tiebreaker, but Hanover hadn’t needed to endure a shootout since beating Lebanon in the quarterfinals of their 2005 championship run.
Rimmer confidently stepped up as the first shooter and capped a great game with a well-executed dribble and deke. Cyrus then initiated his heroics by snuffing Nate Drogseth, and already a ripple went through the Hanover hearts. Even that early, a cocky Coach Grabill circulated through his troops and predicted victory. Caldwell showed senior smarts with a short run and a blast that went through Benuck for a 2-0 lead. Cyrus calmly corralled defender David Wilson, and already the lead was almost unassailable. After Eric Jayne’s offering was saved by Benuck, Cyrus made a remarkable third save in a row on Jesse Brown, and it was sudden death. Osheyack, had been the most demonstrative on the team in declaring his desire to be a shooter, and he backed it up with a twisting run and a rip into the back of the net to give Hanover sudden victory and a ticket to the finals.
The Marauders will face their toughest challenge of the year Saturday in 18-0-1 St. Thomas, a senior-laden team of destiny that has been fixated on the finals since the season’s start. St. Thomas is the only team to score more than a goal on Hanover in the last two seasons, taking a 2-1 lead on them in last year’s game in Dover before the Marauders rallied late in the game to take a 3-2 victory. Having seen them expertly dispatch Con-Val 1-0 in the first semifinal game at Stellos, the Marauders have a good idea of what to expect. They have also seen the quote in Foster’s Daily Democrat from St. Thomas Coach Steve Suleski, who opined that his club would rather face Hanover than Oyster River in the finals.
“We still have a great game left in us,” commented Grabill. “I hope that this opportunity brings it out of us. We have worked very hard to get to this stage of the season, and we’ll do our best to leave everything on the field.”
Also game writeups in the Valley News here and the Seacoastonline here
