Dear fellow Hanoverians:
Ace soccer reporter Geoff Hoffman sent the following along!
I am pleased to report outstanding news coming out of Lancaster,
Massachusetts for our 2 teams that qualified for the Massachusetts
Tournament of Champions (MTOC – state soccer tournament).
The Boys Under 14 1 team – after losing a squeaker in the first game
2-3 to Charleton on Friday, the team rallied and won the next 2 games
on Saturday. They did not win their bracket, but advanced as the 3
bracket wild card to the semi-finals up in Lancaster, one of the
hardest paths to take to semi’s – the final four in the state.
Congrats to these boys for pulling it together after an opening loss.
The boys in this age group did not win a game last year – *a big
congrats for a huge turn around this year*. Then, yesterday, they
faced top seed Framingham in the BU14 semi final and could not move
past this talented team. It should be noted that Hanover advanced to
the final four while rival Scituate (who had finished ahead of Hanover
in the Coastal League playoffs) could not move out of their own
bracket. Again, this team had a great season and huge turnaround from
last year.
The Boys Under 19 Team – also had a Friday opening game loss to a
chippy Waltham team 1-2; they had out-played Waltham overall but fell
just short. They followed with a squeaker win 2-1 on Friday afternoon
to stay alive in the tournament. Saturday morning they endured a 1-1
tie and were faced with an afternoon game that would bring goal
differential into play. They won 1-0, and the other team in contention
lost 0-2, and thus qualified for the state semi-finals as one of the
top four teams in Massachusetts. They also have taken the hard route,
winning a Coastal League 1 game playoff to advance to MTOC and then
the final 4 in the state in an unconventional manner.
The final four game for the BU 19 team on Sunday was no less exciting.
The team faced Brockton in their semi-final game. What a game. These
guys move from playing 50 minute games in the preliminary rounds to 90
minute games in the semi’s and finals. The Hanover guys came ready to
play – clearly out-playing Brockton for 90 minutes – plenty of scoring
opportunities, but no finishes. Regulation time ended at 0-0 and two 5
minute overtime periods yielded no scoring – 100 minutes of soccer on
both sides – no goals – so they moved to penalty kicks. With nearly
the whole complex watching (I’d estimate close to 1000 kids and adults
watching the dramatic action), Brockton out-dueled Hanover in penalty
kicks by just 1 score after moving thru 8 penalty kick rounds. A
somewhat devastating loss, but our guys were gracious in defeat. One
thing I think stands out…the semi-final teams for BU19 were
Brockton, Waltham, Lynn, and our Hanover. We play cities at MTOC and
we compete with cities. This says something about our program.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the BU 19 team won the
State BU19 MTOC Sportsmanship Award – in a tournament where a lot is
on the line and emotions run high, this group kept it together and
really has done the town proud. This is also a coach’s award, as
these guys keep our players focused – thanks to Phil Murray and Paul
Gardner for keeping our guys ready to play professionally.
Geoff Hoffman
Coastal League Representative for Hanover
For “Around Town on the Web”,
Cathy H-B
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