Marauders Continue Winning Home Stand with Shutout of Memorial

Senior forward Casey Starr scored the 

eventual game-winning goal in the 1st.

On an unseasonably warm and sunny Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday afternoon, the Marauders hosted perennial rival Manchester Memorial at the cozy confines of Campion Arena. The Crusaders, usually among the leaders in Division I, were sitting in an unaccustomed spot in the standings – last place with an 0-5 record. Surely, the visitors would be hungry to get off the schneid and enter the win column. However, Hanover's defense and goaltender Gabe Loud had other ideas, and the hosts carried the holiday with a 4-0 shutout for their fourth home win in a row.

Hanover dominated the action from the start of the first period, but despite the strong edge in possession, the Marauders' shots were too often errant in the early going. Memorial goalie Lauren Calnan was rarely tested in the opening minutes – despite the abundance of shots flying off the Hanover sticks, Calnan only had to make six saves. However, the Marauders soon found the back of the net when sophomore centerman Hans Williams won a clean draw to defenseman Braxton McNulty at the point. The junior blueliner wristed a hard, low shot toward Calnan that senior forward Casey Starr deftly deflected upward into the top of the Crusader net for his second tally of the year and the 1-0 Hanover lead.

Memorial mounted minimal counter pressure in the period, but the Crusaders' accuracy was superior in getting the black biscuit on net. Nevertheless, Loud turned away all seven of the visitors shots in the period, and the two teams entered the first intermission with Hanover still leading by one.

Looking to shake their second-period bugaboos, Hanover came out of the intermission flying. However, the vigorous play soon found the Marauders shorthanded for four minutes, picking up a double minor just 59 seconds into the game. However, the extended penalty only seemed to energize the home team, as the penalty kill units maintained possession of the puck for the majority of the man-down and mounted an effective counter-attack to keep Memorial frustrated and on their heels.

Freshman forward Owen Stadheim set up two Hanover goals.

After killing off the double penalty, Hanover got back to work at even-strength and stepped up the pressure on Calnan and the Crusaders' defense. After numerous close chances and relentless pressure in the Memorial zone, senior captain Patrick Logan fed the puck from the point to freshman centerman Owen Stadheim, who quickly fed to linemate Elias Zinman, who pushed the puck home for the 2-0 lead at 9:10.

Hanover wasn't finished with their pressure and was determined to make the second period their strongest of the game. Just over a minute and a half later, defenseman scoring phenom Will Smith fed captain Jonny Goff, who fired the puck past Calnan for the 3-0 Hanover lead. The lead would hold up for the remainder of the period as the teams headed into the locker room for the second intermission.

The Marauders employed their full bench in the third period, and defensemen Duncan Bailey and Sam Seelig logged valuable and solid minutes on the blueline for the Marauders. Stadheim was a force in the neutral zone all day, and the freshman set up linemate David Lehmann for his second assist at 12:19 for Lehmann's third goal of the season and the final insurance goal that would allow Hanover to coast to the 4-0 win and another valuable two points as the Marauders look to climb their way back toward the top of the division table. With the win, the Marauders improve to 7-4 on the season, 4-3 in NHIAA Division I. The Crusaders drop to 1-8, 0-6 in Division I. Loud finished with 14 saves for his second shutout of the season.

Hanover will close out its homestand on Saturday night as they host perennial powerhouse Bishop Guertin, the 2015 state champions and 2016 runners-up. BG graduated numerous seniors, including player of the year Justin Pearson, but returns a solid corps including all-state forward and current league goal-scoring leader Ben Peterson. Come cheer on the Marauders as they take on the Cardinals at 6:40 at Campion.