Deja Vu All Over Again.

Junior David Lehmann opened the scoring
with a penalty shot goal in the first period.

Three times this year the Hanover Marauders have faced the Trinity Pioneers. Three times the Marauders have outshot the Pioneers by a three-to-one margin. Three times Trinity's sophomore goalie Ethan Messner has been the difference in keeping the game from being a Hanover blowout. Three times Hanover has come away with the victory, this time a 4-1 win on an unreasonably early Saturday morning game at the unfriendly confines of Saint Anselm's Sullivan Arena.

Despite the early start and missing their senior forward captain Jonathan Goff, the Marauders dominated the first period from the opening faceoff, racking up seventeen shots in the first period. Freshman forward Rowan Wilson was promoted up the line ladder to fill Goff's absence and did a masterful job creating opportunities for linemates Jake Acker and Jensen Dodge. But, Hanover could not find a way to solve Messner, who turned away the first sixteen shots that the Marauders threw at him.

Finally, with under thirty seconds remaining in the opening period, junior David Lehmann got behind the Pioneer defense and broke in on Chipman before being pulled down from behind by senior TJ Fell. With 25.9 seconds showing on the clock, Lehmann was awarded the rarest and most exciting play in hockey – a penalty shot. Strangely, Hanover has been awarded two penalty shots this season, both in the Sullivan Arena. Lehmann calmly gathered the puck at center ice and started slowly and deliberately toward Messner in the Pioneer crease. Gathering speed as he approached, Messner came out to meet him, but Lehmann deked quickly to his left and fired a low shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 Hanover lead.

Hanover began the second period right where they left off in the first, and the pressure paid off immediately when senior captain Patrick Logan fed a streaking Jensen Dodge on the right wing, who dropped the puck to Acker who one-timed it home to double the Marauder lead. Logan soon found himself in the penalty box, but Hanover denied Trinity any real opportunities on their man-up and outshot Trinity 3-1 during the two minutes they were shorthanded. Sophomore forward Elias Zinman was particularly tenacious on penalty kill, keeping Trinity hemmed in their own zone with his masterful forechecking. Hanover nearly capped a masterful penalty kill with a goal, as Logan came out of the box and broke in alone on Messner with a long lead pass, but gathered the pass a little too deep to have any options other than to the backhand side, and Messner played it perfectly to shut down the angle.

Freshman Owen Stadheim tallied his first career goal.

Hanover continued the pressure throughout the period, but Messner kept the game close with his strong play between the pipes. However, at 10:22 of the period, freshman Owen Stadheim, who has been setting up linemates all season with masterful assists that belie his young age, finally landed himself on the goal-scoring side of the stat sheet when he padded the Hanover lead with his first career goal. Just as he had in the Bishop Guertin game, Stadheim deflected the puck behind the last defender and broke in alone on the right wing. This time, the speedy forward finished the play beautifully, firing the puck through the five-hole for the 3-0 Hanover lead.

The third goal looked as if it would be the final nail in the coffin for Trinity, who seemed to be losing all hope at seizing momentum and were ready to pack it in for the day. However, senior captain and leading scorer Tyler Chipman had other ideas and gave some life to the Pioneers just 1:47 after Stadheim's goal when he narrowed the lead to 3-1. Just past the twelve-minute mark, Chipman carried the puck over the Hanover blue line on the left wing. Deftly sidestepping an open-ice check attempt, Chipman walked in alone on senior goaltender Gabe Loud and ripped a wrist shot into the top right corner at 12:09.

Trinity came into the third period with renewed energy after the Chipman goal, and what looked for much of the game to be a potential blowout was suddenly looking a little less secure for the Marauders. It's long been said that a two-goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey, and Trinity played with the belief they could finally solve Hanover in their third matchup with the Marauders.

Senior Patrick Logan had a goal and assist on the day.

However, 2:45 into the period, Logan deflated the Pioneers' hopes of a comeback when he regained the three-goal margin. After a faceoff win by Acker in the Trinity zone, senior Will Smith slid the puck across the point to his blue line partner. Logan pushed forward along the right wing before unleashing a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that beat Messner high on the blocker side. The lead would hold up through the final horn, and Hanover skated off with the 4-1 victory.

Hanover finished the game with a 42-14 advantage in shots, with Loud making 13 saves in picking up the win. With the victory, Hanover improves to 10-4 overall, 7-3 in NHIAA Division I. The Marauders put their five-game winning streak on the line as they continue their three-game road swing against third-place Pinkerton on Wednesday at the Ice Den in Hooksett. Game time is 4:30.