At the most basic level, hockey is all about taking advantage of the other team's mistakes, and limiting their ability to take advantage of yours. The Concord Crimson Tide proved the truth of that on Wednesday night at Campion. The end result was a 4-1 victory for the undefeated Crimson, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
Concord is an experienced team, looking to make a return trip to the state finals, and currently sitting in 1st place in the NHIAA Div 1 standings. In a scoreless first period, the Marauders carried the play, and had the majority of the possession and at least three legitimate scoring chances that went for naught. The period ended with a 8-7 shot advantage for Hanover, and the Marauders went to their room feeling confident in their ability to run with the big dogs.
In the second period, Concord took advantage of Hanover miscues to put three pucks past Ratliff in the Hanover goal. An untimely turnover in the defensive zone; an unfortunate bounce off a defenseman's stick; a deflected shot from the point, and a 3-0 lead for the Tide at the 2nd intermission.
The third period brought a role reversal of the common Hanover pattern from previous games, as a string of Concord penalties put the Marauders on the power play for the majority of the period. Long stretches of sustained pressure and offensive zone possession finally led to a Goff goal (assists to Zinman and Baker) with just over 5 minutes to play. A furious five minutes followed, but no second goal was forthcoming, and eventually Concord closed out the scoring with an empty net goal in the final seconds.
Thanks to Lake Sunapee Bank for sponsoring tonight's game. Next up for the Marauders is another home game, Saturday at 7:10 against the Nashua North/Souhegan co-op team.
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