Friday, December 19, 2014

Opening Night

From the ink-stained hands of hard-working correspondent and Tweeter extraordinaire Mark Chaimberg:

Hanover Marauders opened the 2014-15 season at home with a 3-0 loss to Manchester Memorial.  Despite outshooting their opponents by a large 24-16 margin, the lack of goal scoring continues to plague the boys.  The Marauders generated a paltry 60 goals in 23 games last season, and they need to improve on that if they are going to find success this year.
The Marauders came out strong from the opening whistle, using their speed and tenacious forechecking to bottle up Memorial, forcing them to ice the puck.  Four minutes into the match Memorial was whistled for too many men on the ice, and Hanover displayed a well-organized power play.  The Marauders closed the period with another odd man advantage, but failed to capitalize.
In the middle stanza, Hanover’s quick breakout and neutral zone speed led to several odd man rushes.  A textbook two-on-one was foiled when the Memorial defender tipped Chaimberg’s pass to Smith, and G. Ratliff was unable to get off a good shot as he was chased down on a partial breakaway.  Memorial opened the scoring midway into the second when Stadheim was hauled down after getting behind a Manchester defender.  Memorial quickly reversed direction, and a shot from the top of the circle beat goalie L. Ratliff high to the glove side.  Lyons had the best chance to tie the score, but was forced to his backhand after almost getting a clear break.  The Marauders ended the period a man down.
Hanover continued to press in the third.  They successfully killed off a penalty and were once again on the attack when a Memorial forward stole the puck from a Marauder defender, crossed through the high slot and let go a low wrister to the far corner to double the lead.  A Hanover power play with three minutes to go, followed by an extra attacker for the final minute failed to register a goal.  Manchester put one into the empty net in the dying seconds, to complete the scoring. 

Check Paul Stinson's web site for pics:  http://hanoverhockeyphotos.phanfare.com/2014
They should be posted shortly.


Also, a nice article and pics in 12/18 Valley News:


(Might need an online subscription to see the VN story, or just go get a paper the old fashioned way)

And, one last thanks to Mascoma Savings Bank for sponsoring the game.  Now, on to Salem . . .

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