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.