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.
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