BG 6, Hanover 0

Guest scribe Everett Logan checks in again with a report on Saturday night's action:

On a bitter cold Saturday night, the Hanover Marauders went south of the border to Tyngsboro, Massachusetts to take on defending state champions Bishop Guertin. The weather wasn’t the only thing cold this evening; the first place Cardinals gave the visitors a chilly reception and sent them home with a 6-0 loss. 

Hanover began the first period with a jump in their step and held the potent BG offense at bay. Puck possession was even through the first five minutes, and Hanover held a slight advantage in shots on goal, with a slightly bigger advantage in quality opportunities. However, no hockey team can play a perfect game, and the best teams are the ones that capitalize the most on their opponents’ mistakes. After a missed clear, BG’s Chase Blazak was left alone behind the net who centered it to Joe Leahy for the game’s first goal at 6:48 of the first period. 

Hanover regrouped and continued to apply pressure throughout the first period. Game Loud made several strong saves in goal, and the Hanover breakout was effective in moving the puck out of their defensive zone. Senior captain Eric McCoy was particularly effective in skating the puck out of his own zone to get the offense moving when the Hanover forwards were hemmed in by Guertin’s pressure, and Jake Acker came within a clanging goal post of tying the game. However, toward the end of the period, Hanover’s heretofore effective breakout failed and a missed pass came directly to Michael Barrett in the high slot who fed it to Austin King for the game’s second goal at 14:53.

The late goal seemed to deflate Hanover, who had battled the Cardinals evenly for the entire period, only to find themselves two goals down. The difference was simply Guertin’s ability to capitalize quickly on the smallest Hanover miscues, the hallmark of a confident and experienced team. Guertin came out of the intermission with growing confidence, whereas Hanover found themselves on their heels. The Cardinals would strike four times in the second period, including three heartbreaking goals in less than thirty seconds. 

BG got the ball rolling with a powerplay strike by league-leading scorer Justin Pearson at 3:30. A mere twelve seconds later, a missed Hanover check at the BG blue line led to a two-on-one rush with Pearson threading the pass to sophomore Ben Peterson for the goal. Eleven seconds later, Pearson again set up a teammate when he fed the puck to Barrett for his second goal of the game. 

A timeout by coach Dodds allowed Hanover to breathe and regroup, and they held steady with the Cardinals for a bit, but the lead would prove insurmountable. The final nail in the coffin came at 10:12 with Hanover on the powerplay when Barrett scored his second of the game for a shorthanded tally.

Hanover played their best hockey in the third period, holding Guertin scoreless, but the hole they found themselves in was far too large to scramble out of, and the Cardinals’ defense and goaltending held firm. Worst of all, Hanover may have lost more than its pride in the game when captain Jonathan Goff left the game in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury after a strong but legal bodycheck into the boards by Guertin’s hulking 6’5” senior defenseman Cam Hult. 

Gabe Loud and Luke Ratliff split time in net. Hanover continues their road trips with a tilt against St. Thomas Aquinas at Dover Ice Arean on Wednesday at 5:00 pm. Hanover looks to get back in the win column against a team they tied 1-1 earlier in the season. 

Lucky 7

Thanks to guest writer Everett Logan, and the magic of modern communication for a writeup on last night's victory over Pelham-Alvirne

After two subpar performances against bottom-of-the-table teams, the Marauders got off the schneid with a 7-0 win at home against Pelham-Alvirne. Hanover came roaring out of the gate and dominated puck possession in the Avalanche defensive zone from the opening face-off. Just minutes into the game, the pressure paid off as captain Jonny Goff broke the ice with a strong wrist shot off a feed from Jensen Dodge that found the back of the net. The celebration felt like a sigh of relief for the Marauders who had been held scoreless for the previous five periods. However, Hanover was far from done as they would tally three more goals in the period, all by the newly-formed first line of Goff, Dodge, and Seth Stadheim.

On the line's very next shift, they found the net again as strong play along the boards and rapid cycling brought the puck to Stadheim at the face-off circle. Number 9 fed the puck neatly to Goff, who shot the puck on net to be deflected in off the stick of a sprawling Jensen Dodge who had just been sent to the ice by a Pelham-Alvirne defender attempting to un-screen his goalie. 

Minutes later, Hanover scored the backbreaker when Dodge hustled to prevent a P-A clear at their blue line. Dodge fed the puck to a steaking Stadheim who deked his defender twice, froze the goalie with a hesitation move, and then fired the puck cleanly into the top of the net while moving to his left. 

The line was not done with their offensive fireworks as they all but sealed the game in the first period when Stadheim threaded a perfect pass from the right face-off circle to Goff in the high slot, who moved the puck onto his backhand and lifted a clinical shot into the top of the net. 

Pelham-Alvirne was clearly shellshocked by the relentless Marauder forecheck and hustle to every loose puck along the board. In particular, the physical presence of wing Jake Acker had Avalanche players shying away from the corners and allowing Hanover to dominate puck possession throughout the period. 

However, Pelham-Alvirne regrouped during the first intermission and came out determined to stop the bleeding. While the second period continued to show Hanover dominating puck possession by a significant margin, Pelham was able to tighten their defense in the slot and decrease Hanover's prime scoring opportunities. 

Bolstered by their defensive momentum, Pelham-Alvirne was able to apply brief pressure in the Hanover zone, but the Marauder defense and the stout play of goalie Luke Ratliff were more than equal to the task. The heartbreaker for the Avalanche's efforts to turn the tide of the game came at the five minute mark when Elias Zinmann threaded a stretch pass to Jake Acker who quickly separated himself from both defenders to streak in on a breakaway, finished with a deke to the right and a quick backhand goal. 

Pelham-Alvirne held Hanover scoreless for the remainder of the period, but with the smothering Hanover defense bringing their A-game, the game was already out of reach for the visitors. 

The 5-0 lead allowed Hanover to give regular shifts to its third-line players on both offense and defense, and the end of the bench proved just as potent as the regulars in the final period. Recent JV promotion Casey Starr scored his first varsity goal when he pushed a rebound between the sprawling Pelham-Alvirne goalie's right skate and the goalpost. Stadheim capped the scoring toward the end of the now running-time third period with a blast of a wrist shot from the high slot off a perfect feed from linemate Dodge for the latter's fourth point of the night. 

All six of the defensive corps of Patrick Logan, Will Smith, Eric McCoy, TJ Beaver, Braxton McNulty, and Matt Miles rotated through significant ice time and played nearly flawless and frustrating defense to limit the visitors to a season-low 10 shots. As any goalie will tell you, sometimes the hardest games in which to stay sharp are the ones with the fewest shots, but Ratliff made several solid saves on the few scoring threats the Hanover defense allowed to secure the shutout. 

Hanover hits the road and attempts to spawn another winning streak when they face first-place and defending state champions Bishop Guertin at 6:10 this coming Saturday at the Skate3 complex in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. 

Groundhog Day

The Hanover Marauders suffered their own version of the classic Bill Murray time loop, continuing their February funk in a 4-0 loss at the hands of the Manchester Central Little Green.  A combination of injuries, missed opportunities, unlucky bounces, and penalties sent the Marauders to their second defeat in a row and evened their league record at 5-5-1.  That's currently good for a 9th place tie in the NHIAA standings, and leaves the Marauders little margin for error in their fight for a playoff berth.

With eleven forward seeing ice time for Hanover, there were a total of 165 distinct combinations for line mates that could be made. (Go ahead and check my math if you'd like)  Coach Dodds seemingly tried them all, looking to find the one little spark needed to wake the Marauder offense, but to no avail.   Central got one goal in the first period, a second just before the 2nd intermission, and two in the third period to put the game out of reach.

Penalties were especially painful for the Marauders as they returned to their early season ways and were booked for 7 minors.  Central cashed a few power play chances, but more importantly the constant short handed situations blunted any momentum Hanover tried to build and left them too little time to mount a comeback.  In order to regain their mojo going forward, the boys will need to learn to play with more discipline, and not allow the referees to get inside their skulls and rattle around like they did last night.

Next up for Hanover is a chance to right the ship against Pelham-Alvirne on Weds night at Campion,  P-A currently sits just below the playoff line, has a win over Pinkerton, and a 1 goal loss to Bishop Guertin on their resume, and will be looking to load up on the suddenly vulnerable Marauders.  It promises to be a critical test for the young Hanover team.