Marauders End Homestand with 3-2 Victory Over Cardinals.

Senior captain Jonathan Goff scored two goals on the 

night, including a short-handed goal in the first and 

the game-winner in the third. 

On an unseasonably warm January evening, The Cardinals of Bishop Guertin traveled north to Hanover for a Saturday evening tilt at Campion Rink. Two years ago, Hanover had beaten BG during the regular season, and finished the schedule tied in the standings. The tie-breaker should have gone to Hanover, giving the Marauders a home playoff game, but some very questionable “fuzzy math” by NHIAA awarded the home game to BG, a game BG ultimately won on their way to the 2015 state championship. Last year, the Cardinals thumped Hanover 6-1. The Marauders were looking for some payback, and they got it with a 3-2 victory during a rollercoaster of a game that saw twenty-nine minutes in penalties handed out between the two teams. 

Hanover showed their determination for payback from the opening drop of the puck. The Marauders played their best hockey of the season to date in the opening frame, dominating possession of the puck and getting the better of the physical play. Jensen Dodge was particularly aggressive along the boards and on the forecheck, forcing several key turnovers in the Cardinal zone, and coming close to putting Hanover ahead early. It looked as if the early momentum Hanover was seizing might reverse when the hosts were called for the first of thirteen penalties to be called on the night. However, the Marauders dominated the play on the man down, and captain Jonny Goff finished off a particularly aggressive shift by stealing the puck inside the BG zone and writing home the unassisted, shorthanded goal.

Hanover would kill off the rest of the penalty, and soon find themselves the beneficiaries of the ref’s judgment as they received back-to-back power plays midway through the period. The Marauders came up short during the first, despite several good chances, but leading scorer Will Smith doubled the lead during the second man-up at 8:08 of the first. With Hanover set-up in the Cardinal zone, senior forward Jake Acker fed the puck to the left point where Smith ripped a slap shot that deflected off Cardinal goaltender Jake Perrin and into the top of the net. Hanover had several more chances to pad their lead, but ultimately entered the first intermission with the 2-0 lead.

Hanover came out in the second determined to hold the lead and exorcise their season-long second-period demons. However, BG came out of their locker room equally fired up and determined not to let this crucial road game get away from them. The two teams circled and traded blows like prize fighters in a championship bout, with Hanover unable to land the knockout blow, and BG unable to counter. It looked as if the Marauders would get their best chance to land that knockout to the Cardinal jaw when they were awarded a five-minute power play at 9:24 after a BG contact-to-the-head penalty. The Marauders did have several good chances, including senior captain Patrick Logan being stoned on the doorstep by Perrin. But, hockey is a game of momentum swings, and BG looked to swing that momentum in their favor when forward Cam Fagan scored the Cardinals’ own short-handed goal with forty seconds remaining on the Hanover power play. The energized Cardinals kept up the assault, but could not find the equalizer and the two teams headed into their final break with the 2-1 Hanover lead intact.

The third period began with that palpable air of tension that only certain sporting events seem to create. Both teams circled and took deep breaths before the opening face off, knowing an epic battle was ahead. The feeling in the building was that the team to score next would win: should Hanover score, the insurance goal would be a safe enough cushion to ensure victory; should BG score, the momentum swing would carry them through to scoring the additional game-winner. The players steeled themselves for the onslaught.

It looked as if Hanover would be the ones to land the knockout blow and seal the victory early in the period. With Cardinal defenseman Aiden Wilkie serving a high-sticking penalty just 41 seconds into the third, the Marauder power play went back to work. After several strong chances while set-up in the BG zone that came up short, Hanover seemingly scored on transition when Smith fed a stretch pass to David Lehmann and the puck glanced off the junior forward’s skate and into the net. The Hanover bench erupted, but the celebration was short-lived as the referees disallowed the goal for being kicked in.

BG’s all-state junior Ben Peterson had made his presence known all evening, displaying dazzling speed and lighting-quick cuts. Peterson had created several break-away  opportunities for himself on the night, but each time senior goaltender Gabe Loud had come up big and bailed out the Marauders with the save. Eventually, however, Peterson found a way to break through and hit the back of the Hanover net one-third of the way through the period off a feed from Jacob Rodrigue.

Just 26 seconds after the Peterson goal, the next-goal-wins dynamic seemed to be playing out, and the

Junior defenseman Braxton McNulty was a force on the 

penalty kill, including three blocked shots in one shift.

momentum of the evening clearly seemed to be swinging to the visitors when Patrick Logan picked up the first of two nearly consecutive penalties, both on highly controversial calls. However, the Hanover penalty killers bailed out their captain and displayed some of the most aggressive and passionate hockey of the season in killing off four minutes of penalties in the span of 4:39. Defenseman Braxton McNulty almost single handedly prevented the Cardinals from taking the lead, blocking three shots on the same shift. In the final minutes of the second power play, BG was circling the net and passing with precision and energy, looking as if they might break through for the lead at any second. However, freshman Owen Stadheim stripped the puck from Peterson at the left point and carried the puck coast-to-coast on a breakaway before being denied the lead by Perrin. Despite the save, the effort ended an imminent BG threat and all but killed the second penalty for the Marauders.

After dodging that bullet, the Marauders felt their confidence returning and the pressure began to swing back toward Perrin in the Cardinals’ end. Just under two minutes after killing off the crucial back-to-back power plays, Acker collected his second assist of the night on Jonny Goff’s second goal. Acker fired on the Perrin from the right slot, and the Cardinal net minder left a rebound on the left doorstep, on which Goff quickly swooper in and banged home. Once again in the period, the Hanover bench exploded, and this time the scoreboard confirmed their jubilance.

However, there was still 2:52 left to play before Hanover could claim victory, and BG had other plans than to surrender quietly. After calling a timeout, coach Gary Bishop pulled Perrin to the bench for an extra attacker. But, Hanover maintained the counter attacking pressure and kept the Cardinals’ chances to a minimum, the few of which Loud handled to preserve the lead. The final seconds ticked off, and Hanover secured a crucial two points in front of a raucous and jubilant Saturday night crowd.

With the win, Hanover improves to 8-4 overall, 5-3 in NHIAA Division I. Bishop Guertin drops to 5-2-2 overall, 3-2-2 in Division play. Loud made seventeen saves for the win. Hanover hits the road on Wednesday for the first of three straight away games when they take on the Blue Hawks of Exeter. Game time is 4:00 PM at the Rinks of Exeter.