ALL HEART

     In a game that will probably stand-up as the biggest single gut check game of the season, the Hanover Marauders went into Everett Arena to face archrival Concord on the heels of being destroyed by the Crimson Tide the night before in all facets of the game 6-0 at Campion.  While tonight’s final score resulted in a 4-2 loss, this game was a close, hard-fought battle that demonstrated the toughness, guts and mettle of this Hanover team.  While not a perfect effort for Dick Dodds’s Marauders, it certainly was a vast improvement over their performance from the day previously.  Everett was rocking tonight with a large crowd in both the side and end bleachers to make it very much a partisan Crimson Tide crowd. 



      The first period was a clean, fast, well-played contest between the first and second place teams in NHIAA division 1.  The best chance was for Concord on a wrister from the right circle which hit the crossbar and bounced harmlessly away.  Midway through the first, everyone knew this was going to be a dogfight and that Hanover had learned their lesson and would not repeat the performance from the night before.  As the horn ended for period 1 with a 0-0 score, it was Hanover goalie Harris LaRock and Concord goalie Spencer Burgess who again were the stars at intermission.

 

Rebound goal for Stadheim

      Almost immediately to start the second, Hanover found themselves on the penalty kill after a too many men on the call that was at best a close call, and at worse, well we’ve all had our refereeing experiences at Everett over the years.  Almost immediately, Senior Drew Livingston put the Crimson Tide up walking in on LaRock from the left and beating him high blocker side at 13:22.  Yesterday afternoon this type of Concord push led to Hanover folding – but not tonight.  When Hanover finally got its chance on the man-up deep into the second, Sy Oberting found a streaking Owen Stadheim in the neutral zone who split the Tide defense to fire from the mid slot at Burgess.  Although he stopped the initial blast, Burgess could not control the rebound and Stadheim found the puck back on his stick for an easy put away at 3:42. 1-1.  Almost immediately after the goal, Hanover committed a dehelmeting interference which left them on the kill as the second ended.  With the aggressive fore-check flying, however the Marauders were able to kill the penalty and head in to the second intermission with the tie at 1-1.

 

Lehmann made it 3-2

      With everyone in the crowd expecting a close third period, it was Concord who struck first on a nice Colin Kastle breakaway at 3:10 off a beautiful board pass from deep in the Tide defensive zone.  23 seconds later, the Tide struck again high on LaRock to make it 3-1.  This is where 24 hours earlier, the Marauders had collapsed like San Francisco in an earthquake – but not tonight.  Despite having a much shorter bench than the Crimson tide, Hanover kept pushing and pushing until, on a play reminiscent of Willie Mays’s over-the shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series, captain David Lehmann took a pass from fellow captain Braxton McNulty from the deep defensive zone.  The puck seemed to come over Lehmann’s shoulder and land right on his stick along the near boards at the defensive blue line.  From there, he skated through the neutral zone diagonally to the far left circle where his rip beat Burgess high to make it 3-2 with 3:52 left.

 

      Now the Crimson Tide were as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room filled with rocking chairs as the Marauders were bringing the pressure late in the third.  To make things even worse for the Tide, a tripping penalty with about 90 seconds to go had the Marauders on the power play to complete the game.  Pulling LaRock for a 6 on 4, Hanover seemed to be on the doorstep as the last seconds ticked away, only to get beat on a long empty netter to seal the game at 4-2.

 

      So what did we learn this week about the now second place Marauders? For one, we learned that without bringing the required effort they are very beatable when playing against the top Division 1 echelon teams.  However, that is the same for each team in the top 4-5 in the NHIAA standings.  Most importantly though, we also learned that this team has heart and guts.  Tonight was not their best game.  There were many missed passes, crucial turnovers and a lack of cohesiveness in the offensive third.  The team was playing their second game in two days, and with Concord having a roster of 24 while Hanover has only 17, depth was an issue.  However, this was a game about gaining back respect and having the confidence necessary to go deep into the playoffs.  It would have a plus for Hanover to have won this game, but they got what they needed out of it – they got their swagger back and hopefully a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

 

      Saturday night is the final home regular season game of the year and a chance to honor the seniors Peter Warhold, Harris LaRock, David Lehmann and Braxton McNulty.  Game time is 6:40 against Bishop Brady.

 

      Then it’s playoff time…