Senior Night Send off - Exeter 3 - Hanover 1

Another tough night for the Marauders. Some late breaking good news however - If the NHIAA standings are correct on their website, Salem's loss last night has assured Hanover a spot in the post season tourney.

Thanks again to Everett Logan for the game report:

It was Senior night for the Hanover Marauders, their last home game of the regular season and a chance to say thanks and goodbye to three skaters on the team: captain Eric McCoy, Matthew Miles, and Drew Tengdin. After a brief ceremony for the three and a stirring a cappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by the Soar Throats, the puck dropped and the Marauders looked to get back in the win column. 

Things started well for the Marauders with aggressive forechecking keeping Exeter hemmed in their zone for much of the early going. Jake Acker nearly broke the ice just a few minutes into the game with a blistering slapshot one-timer off a feed from Jonny Goff that clanged off the crossbar. However, Hanover did draw first blood minutes later when Seth Stadheim scored the first goal of the game at 7:05 of the first period. Playing dump-and-chase, Jensen Dodge beat the Exeter defender to the puck in the left corner shrugged off the ensuing check to send the puck behind the net where Stadheim gathered it. The sophomore center ducked an Exeter bodycheck and moved the puck into the right side of the slot on the doorstep of the crease. Holding the puck for a second to get Bryson Desjardins to commit, he then wristed a shot over the Exeter goalie’s shoulder for a 1-0 lead. 

The lead would prove short-lived, however, as Exeter found the equalizer at 3:54 of the first. The Eagles’ leading scorer Brandon Mello brought the puck along the left wing before cutting in toward the Hanover net at the face-off circle. Eluding a poke-check attempt, he shielded the puck with his body before tucking it in the net as he slid across the crease. 

The second period belonged to Exeter as they pulled away with two insurance goals from sophomore forward Ben Baldasaro: a pretty snapshot from the left face-off circle  that found the top of the net at 4:20, followed by a wrist shot from the right slot at 9:02. 

In terms of offensive pressure and puck possession, the third period belonged to Hanover, but they were unable to solve Desjardins, perhaps the league’s top goalie. Sometimes hockey games can be decided by a hot goaltender, as Desjardins showed earlier in the season when he made an astounding 58 saves to lead Exeter to an upset of then-undefeated Bedford. The senior captain showed more of his magic in the third as he made 11 of his 26 saves in the frame, many of them on high-quality shots that would have easily beaten most high-school goalies. In the end, a frustrated Hanover could only tip their collective caps to Desjardins who as equal to anything they could throw at him. 

Despite the 3-1 loss, Hanover played some of its most aggressive hockey of the year. Standheim, Dodge, Goff, and David Lehmann were fearless in their aggression on the forecheck and in chasing down loose pucks along the boards, while Acker and McCoy dominated the neutral zone and the Hanover breakout. The Hanover defense limited Exeter’s offense to less than 20 shots. 

After a rare Saturday off, Hanover looks to secure a playoff spot on the road against 14-1 Concord next Wednesday at the always tough confines of Everett Arena with a late school-night tilt beginning at 7:30. 

Feb 20 - Trinity 3, Hanover 1

The rollercoaster ride continues for the Marauders as they dropped a road game to the host Trinity Pioneers on Saturday night, 3-1. The visitors outshot Trinity 33-20, but the hosts were able to make the most of a few key Hanover defensive breakdowns to secure the win.

Seven minutes into the game, Hanover got on the board first on a powerplay goal from Freshman Elias Zinmann. With a Pioneer in the box, Hanover set up its increasingly deadly powerplay in the Trinity zone. Seth Stadheim fed the puck from the high left wing to fellow point man Patrick Logan, who ripped a snapshot off the shoulder of Trinity goaltender Curtis Wirbal. The shot rebounded favorably off the back boards and directly to Zinmann on the doorstep. Wirbal had turned the wrong way to find the puck and left the near side of the goal wide open allowing Zinmann to bang it in for the score and the early lead.  

However, just over two minutes later, Trinity tied the game on a backchecking breakdown when Jacob Wolford threaded a pass from the right wing to an unmarked Tyler Chipman gliding into the left face-off circle. Chapman wristed home the equalizer at 9:20 of the period. 

The second period belonged to the Pioneers. With a Marauder serving a contact-to-the-head penalty, Trinity took the lead on an end-to-end rush goal by defenseman Drew Merrick. Derrick received the puck in his own zone from Nate Arcand and proceeded to blow past two Hanover skaters before tucking the puck home at 2:03 of the second for the Trinity lead that they would not relinquish. 

Trinity added an insurance goal at 5:31 of the period as Hanover was caught puck watching and failed to put a body on the circling Pioneers as Wolford scored on a bang-bang play from Arcand and freshman Jimmy Kosiarski. 

The visiting Marauders applied the pressure in the third, and finished the game with a decided advantage in shots, but were unable to solve Wirbal who finished with 32 saves on the night. 

Hanover returns home on Wednesday for the last time in the regular season and looks to secure a playoff spot on Senior Night as they host Exeter at 4:00 pm at Campion Rink. 

An Overtime Thriller!

The Marauders jump up into 6th place in the logjammed NHIAA standings with last night's win.  Thanks to Everett Logan again for the game writeup:

The Hanover Marauders took their longest road trip of the year on Wednesday to the cozy confines of the Dover Ice Arena to take on the Saints of St. Thomas Aquinas. After their Saturday night loss to first-place Bishop Guertin, the Marauders looked to get back in the win column and solidify a place in the playoffs. The visitors in maroon provided a roller-coaster ride in a game that looked early like it would be a rout in their favor, only to see the lead evaporate and a heartbreaking loss looming until last-second heroics saved the game. Hanover went on to win the thriller in overtime, 4-3 on Seth Stadheim’s hat trick. 

Hanover looked to put the disappointment of Saturday’s loss behind them quickly and came roaring out of the gate with a ferocious attack. The first line dominated play from the puck drop and keep the action firmly within the Saints’ zone immediately. Only seconds into the game, Elias Zinmann showed his tenacity by outracing a St. Thomas defender to a loose puck in the corner. Zinmann fed the puck to defenseman Patrick Logan at the point. Logan held the puck just long enough to draw the Aquinas wing to him before dishing back to Zinmann, who quickly fed the puck to center Seth Stadheim in the slot. Stadheim wristed home the ice breaker to the blocker side of the goalie at 0:47 of the first period for a 1-0 Hanover lead. 

Hanover continued to dominate play in the period, and St. Thomas found themselves on their heels for most of the early going. With St. Thomas in the penalty box, the Hanover power play unit applied relentless pressure, but couldn’t get the puck past the Saints’ goalie. With time winding down on the man-up, St. Thomas cleared the puck out of their zone to center ice. Power-play point man Stadheim circled back to gather the puck and rushed back toward the Saints goal, splitting two defenders before deking to the backhand and lifting the puck into the net for a 2-0 lead. 

Hanover was denied credit for a third goal in the period when a pinching Logan centered the puck from the side boards to Zinman alone in the slot. “EZ” lifted a backhander as nifty as Stadheim’s into the top of the Saints’ net, but the referee was inexplicably not watching the play and missed the puck clearly hitting the inside of the netting before rebounding out and no goal was called. 

Although Hanover dominated the period, the Saints applied pressure of their own. The defensive play of the period went to Grant Morhun, whose hustle on the back check to lift a St. Thomas forward’s stick at the last second as he received a path on the doorstep of the Hanover goal likely kept the score at 2-0 when the period ended. 

St. Thomas regrouped during the second intermission and came out in the second with tighter defense and significantly limited the Marauder chances. Their opportunity came when unusually disciplined Hanover drew its first penalty of the game with less than two minutes to play in the period. As time wound down, St. Thomas shot the puck on net. Gabe Loud made the initial save, but Hanover was unable to clear the puck or the Saints attackers out of the crease in the ensuing goal-mouth scramble, and Ransom Roberts banged home the puck with only five seconds remaining in the period to get St. Thomas on the board and heading into the second intermission trailing 2-1. 

Hanover drew a roughing penalty after the whistle to end the second, so St. Thomas began the third period with a fresh power play. Despite good pressure, Loud and the penalty kill unit held strong and denied the Saints their equalizer. However, one minute after the penalty expired, Tucker Whitcomb fed the puck up the left wing to a streaking Ryan Gaulin. A Marauder wing attempted a body check, but Gaulin kept his feet moving and blew threw it before cutting toward the net and firing a slap shot past Loud for the equalizer. 

A stunned Hanover bench looked on in disbelief as their early two-goal lead evaporated, but there was still a lot of hockey left to play. Each team had their chances throughout the third, but neither team could break through to gain the lead, as each team’s goaltender proved puzzling to their opponents. However, a defensive breakdown by the Marauders with time winding down looked like it might be the decisive moment of the game. Gaulin fed the puck to Brock Crowley at the right point, and no Hanover forward moved to intercept him or block his shot. With a clean angle on net, he fired a perfect slap shot into the top corner from the right face-off circle to net what appeared to be the game winner for the Saints and the agonizing heartbreaker for the Marauders with only 1:05 left to play in the contest. 

Coach Dodds called a time-out and calmed his shellshocked troops. Hanover won the ensuing face-off and Loud quickly headed to the bench for the extra attacker. Hanover was unable to set-up in the attacking zone, but fortunately kept the puck out of their empty net. With time ticking away, Logan gathered the puck at center ice and rushed it up the right wing boards through two Saints defenders. As he was attempting to cut in toward goal, the second defender pulled him down by his sweater, but not before he was able to push the puck low to Stadheim behind the net. Stadheim circled quickly to the left side of the net and fed the puck to Jake Acker in the low slot who banged it home to tie the score with a mere fifteen second left and send the game to overtime. 

Initially, neither team was able to generate dangerous chances in overtime and the game looked as if it might headed to a reprise of the tie that Hanover and St. Thomas battled to at Campion earlier in the season. However, at just under four minutes remaining in extra time, the Hanover forecheck paid off once again as Stadheim hustled and pestered the St. Thomas breakout causing a Saint defender to surrender the puck along their left wing board. Stadheim stepped behind him, gathered the loose puck, cut toward the net, and wristed home the sudden-death winner with 3:42 left in overtime before being mobbed by his relieved and exuberant teammates. 

Hanover hits the road again on Saturday to take on Trinity at St. Anselm’s college at 7:30. 

BG 6, Hanover 0

Guest scribe Everett Logan checks in again with a report on Saturday night's action:

On a bitter cold Saturday night, the Hanover Marauders went south of the border to Tyngsboro, Massachusetts to take on defending state champions Bishop Guertin. The weather wasn’t the only thing cold this evening; the first place Cardinals gave the visitors a chilly reception and sent them home with a 6-0 loss. 

Hanover began the first period with a jump in their step and held the potent BG offense at bay. Puck possession was even through the first five minutes, and Hanover held a slight advantage in shots on goal, with a slightly bigger advantage in quality opportunities. However, no hockey team can play a perfect game, and the best teams are the ones that capitalize the most on their opponents’ mistakes. After a missed clear, BG’s Chase Blazak was left alone behind the net who centered it to Joe Leahy for the game’s first goal at 6:48 of the first period. 

Hanover regrouped and continued to apply pressure throughout the first period. Game Loud made several strong saves in goal, and the Hanover breakout was effective in moving the puck out of their defensive zone. Senior captain Eric McCoy was particularly effective in skating the puck out of his own zone to get the offense moving when the Hanover forwards were hemmed in by Guertin’s pressure, and Jake Acker came within a clanging goal post of tying the game. However, toward the end of the period, Hanover’s heretofore effective breakout failed and a missed pass came directly to Michael Barrett in the high slot who fed it to Austin King for the game’s second goal at 14:53.

The late goal seemed to deflate Hanover, who had battled the Cardinals evenly for the entire period, only to find themselves two goals down. The difference was simply Guertin’s ability to capitalize quickly on the smallest Hanover miscues, the hallmark of a confident and experienced team. Guertin came out of the intermission with growing confidence, whereas Hanover found themselves on their heels. The Cardinals would strike four times in the second period, including three heartbreaking goals in less than thirty seconds. 

BG got the ball rolling with a powerplay strike by league-leading scorer Justin Pearson at 3:30. A mere twelve seconds later, a missed Hanover check at the BG blue line led to a two-on-one rush with Pearson threading the pass to sophomore Ben Peterson for the goal. Eleven seconds later, Pearson again set up a teammate when he fed the puck to Barrett for his second goal of the game. 

A timeout by coach Dodds allowed Hanover to breathe and regroup, and they held steady with the Cardinals for a bit, but the lead would prove insurmountable. The final nail in the coffin came at 10:12 with Hanover on the powerplay when Barrett scored his second of the game for a shorthanded tally.

Hanover played their best hockey in the third period, holding Guertin scoreless, but the hole they found themselves in was far too large to scramble out of, and the Cardinals’ defense and goaltending held firm. Worst of all, Hanover may have lost more than its pride in the game when captain Jonathan Goff left the game in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury after a strong but legal bodycheck into the boards by Guertin’s hulking 6’5” senior defenseman Cam Hult. 

Gabe Loud and Luke Ratliff split time in net. Hanover continues their road trips with a tilt against St. Thomas Aquinas at Dover Ice Arean on Wednesday at 5:00 pm. Hanover looks to get back in the win column against a team they tied 1-1 earlier in the season. 

Lucky 7

Thanks to guest writer Everett Logan, and the magic of modern communication for a writeup on last night's victory over Pelham-Alvirne

After two subpar performances against bottom-of-the-table teams, the Marauders got off the schneid with a 7-0 win at home against Pelham-Alvirne. Hanover came roaring out of the gate and dominated puck possession in the Avalanche defensive zone from the opening face-off. Just minutes into the game, the pressure paid off as captain Jonny Goff broke the ice with a strong wrist shot off a feed from Jensen Dodge that found the back of the net. The celebration felt like a sigh of relief for the Marauders who had been held scoreless for the previous five periods. However, Hanover was far from done as they would tally three more goals in the period, all by the newly-formed first line of Goff, Dodge, and Seth Stadheim.

On the line's very next shift, they found the net again as strong play along the boards and rapid cycling brought the puck to Stadheim at the face-off circle. Number 9 fed the puck neatly to Goff, who shot the puck on net to be deflected in off the stick of a sprawling Jensen Dodge who had just been sent to the ice by a Pelham-Alvirne defender attempting to un-screen his goalie. 

Minutes later, Hanover scored the backbreaker when Dodge hustled to prevent a P-A clear at their blue line. Dodge fed the puck to a steaking Stadheim who deked his defender twice, froze the goalie with a hesitation move, and then fired the puck cleanly into the top of the net while moving to his left. 

The line was not done with their offensive fireworks as they all but sealed the game in the first period when Stadheim threaded a perfect pass from the right face-off circle to Goff in the high slot, who moved the puck onto his backhand and lifted a clinical shot into the top of the net. 

Pelham-Alvirne was clearly shellshocked by the relentless Marauder forecheck and hustle to every loose puck along the board. In particular, the physical presence of wing Jake Acker had Avalanche players shying away from the corners and allowing Hanover to dominate puck possession throughout the period. 

However, Pelham-Alvirne regrouped during the first intermission and came out determined to stop the bleeding. While the second period continued to show Hanover dominating puck possession by a significant margin, Pelham was able to tighten their defense in the slot and decrease Hanover's prime scoring opportunities. 

Bolstered by their defensive momentum, Pelham-Alvirne was able to apply brief pressure in the Hanover zone, but the Marauder defense and the stout play of goalie Luke Ratliff were more than equal to the task. The heartbreaker for the Avalanche's efforts to turn the tide of the game came at the five minute mark when Elias Zinmann threaded a stretch pass to Jake Acker who quickly separated himself from both defenders to streak in on a breakaway, finished with a deke to the right and a quick backhand goal. 

Pelham-Alvirne held Hanover scoreless for the remainder of the period, but with the smothering Hanover defense bringing their A-game, the game was already out of reach for the visitors. 

The 5-0 lead allowed Hanover to give regular shifts to its third-line players on both offense and defense, and the end of the bench proved just as potent as the regulars in the final period. Recent JV promotion Casey Starr scored his first varsity goal when he pushed a rebound between the sprawling Pelham-Alvirne goalie's right skate and the goalpost. Stadheim capped the scoring toward the end of the now running-time third period with a blast of a wrist shot from the high slot off a perfect feed from linemate Dodge for the latter's fourth point of the night. 

All six of the defensive corps of Patrick Logan, Will Smith, Eric McCoy, TJ Beaver, Braxton McNulty, and Matt Miles rotated through significant ice time and played nearly flawless and frustrating defense to limit the visitors to a season-low 10 shots. As any goalie will tell you, sometimes the hardest games in which to stay sharp are the ones with the fewest shots, but Ratliff made several solid saves on the few scoring threats the Hanover defense allowed to secure the shutout. 

Hanover hits the road and attempts to spawn another winning streak when they face first-place and defending state champions Bishop Guertin at 6:10 this coming Saturday at the Skate3 complex in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. 

Groundhog Day

The Hanover Marauders suffered their own version of the classic Bill Murray time loop, continuing their February funk in a 4-0 loss at the hands of the Manchester Central Little Green.  A combination of injuries, missed opportunities, unlucky bounces, and penalties sent the Marauders to their second defeat in a row and evened their league record at 5-5-1.  That's currently good for a 9th place tie in the NHIAA standings, and leaves the Marauders little margin for error in their fight for a playoff berth.

With eleven forward seeing ice time for Hanover, there were a total of 165 distinct combinations for line mates that could be made. (Go ahead and check my math if you'd like)  Coach Dodds seemingly tried them all, looking to find the one little spark needed to wake the Marauder offense, but to no avail.   Central got one goal in the first period, a second just before the 2nd intermission, and two in the third period to put the game out of reach.

Penalties were especially painful for the Marauders as they returned to their early season ways and were booked for 7 minors.  Central cashed a few power play chances, but more importantly the constant short handed situations blunted any momentum Hanover tried to build and left them too little time to mount a comeback.  In order to regain their mojo going forward, the boys will need to learn to play with more discipline, and not allow the referees to get inside their skulls and rattle around like they did last night.

Next up for Hanover is a chance to right the ship against Pelham-Alvirne on Weds night at Campion,  P-A currently sits just below the playoff line, has a win over Pinkerton, and a 1 goal loss to Bishop Guertin on their resume, and will be looking to load up on the suddenly vulnerable Marauders.  It promises to be a critical test for the young Hanover team.