Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Right Back Where We Started From


      Put the brakes on. Relax. Exhale. It’s just one game in the standings, the same as a win against Central or a loss to Bedford.  Just another mid-February game between two NHIAA teams, on a snowy Wednesday night at Everett.  Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just another game…but didn’t it feel just a little bit good to watch the Hanover Marauders kick the crap out of Concord in their home barn tonight in a 4-0 stomping to solidify second place in Division 1 NHIAA play with four games to play? In the over 60 years (that is right sixty years) of high school coaching experience between coaches Dodds and Walsh, I can’t imagine they have seen this type of one-sided dominance too often between their two clubs.  Oh wait, there was last year’s 6-0 Concord stomping at Hanover.  Maybe a little payback in the air tonight?

     But as lopsided as the final tally ended up, this game was a lot closer than the box score.  Concord is a great team, picked as the preseason number 1 this year by HNIB.  So they must have been as surprised as anyone when the freight train Sy Oberting dialed up one of his blue line bombs just 56 seconds in, and with the coolness that only comes from a guy who can jet set to the West Coast and back over the weekend for a music audition, #20 Hans Williams beautifully deflected the shot past Crimson Tide goalie Parker Taylor to put the Marauders up 1-0.  With many of us still confusedly asking in the lobby as we shuffled in at 5:30 “They’re playing already?” it was freshman goalie Ben Plottner, not of the NH Avalanche, who dominated the rushing Tide forwards in close numerous times as the first period wound on.  A little bit of a friendly post kept Concord out of the scorer’s column, as did a smothering back check.  However, in what would doom them tonight, Concord get whistled for its second penalty of the period and on the man-up, Matty Gardner pirouetted around the near side circle a few times before finally realizing that the point of an offensive man-up is to score goals and with that, his unassisted snipe made it 2-0 at 14:33.

      Into the locker room they went and were it not for the incredible intermission music selection (always well done by the way Concord – keep giving us the Maxine Nightingale because we appreciate it very much) perhaps we could have heard some rumblings coming from the home locker room.  But in what is something rarely seen in a high level high school hockey game, the Crimson Tide had zero (yes zero) shots on Plottner in the second period – thank you to the smothering defense from Spencer Lawe, Curtis Rice, and Tom Lyons.  But the Marauders would not return the favor and with fury after flurry raining down on Taylor, it was Cameron Woods on the man-up in front scrum on an assist from Gardner and Casey Graham to make it 3-0 heading into the final intermission.  And doesn't it seem like Woods is always there to put these goals home - a sneaky, understated, lethal assassin in front of the net.

      The all-important three goal advantage, now all we wanted was the shutout and Plottner (18 saves) obliged by stopping several point blank attempts with fewer rebounds than Taylor Swift in a given year.  With Concord  finding themselves again in the sin bin it was big brother Charlie who stuffed in Hanover’s third power play goal of the night on an assist from Gardner at 10:26 to complete the scoring at 4-0 and in the process put cupid to shame with his pre-Valentine’s Day archer goal celebration.

      So with the win, Hanover climbs to 12-2 in league play (13-4 overall) and sits solidly in second place with tonight’s action still pending (like the Valley News the deadline for the blog site is now 10:30 pm).  But is doesn’t get any easier, with a senior night tilt against fifth place Exeter on Saturday and then, you guessed it, Concord at Thompson on Sunday.  So savor the win, don’t forget to kiss your mom tomorrow and wish her a Happy Valentine’s Day, and sorry guys, I got the last gas station rose bouquet from Dan and Whits on the way home – start coming up with the excuses now.  See you at the rink.

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