Marauders Open Holiday Tournament With Win

 

Senior goaltender Gabe Loud made 16
saves to pick up the tourney opening win.

The Hanover Marauders traveled south to the cozy confines of JFK Coliseum to open the annual Manchester Holiday Tournament. After picking up their first win of the season against Nashua South, the Marauders looked to continue their budding win streak, and a 3-1 victory over last year's Division II runners-up started the tournament off with a crucial two points.

The first period saw plenty of Hanover pressure, as they outshot the Falcons by a 10-3 margin. However, Bow goalie Nathan Carrier was able to stave off the Hanover attack for the first 80 percent of the period until the Marauders finally broke through at 12:26. Senior defenseman Will Smith continued his offensive output by setting up the first goal with a blast from the left point. Carrier made the initial save with his left pad, but left a rebound in the slot that junior forward David Lehmann banged in for the goal and the 1-0 Hanover lead that would hold up into the first intermission.

In the first three games, Hanover found the middle period to be their most challenging, but the Marauders looked to break the pattern today and came out flying in the second. Despite being down a defenseman and seeing Smith and senior captain Patrick Logan alternating double shifts throughout the game, Hanover showed no signs up a let-up and kept relentless pressure on Carrier throughout the period. Jensen Dodge and Lehmann proved particularly tenacious on the forecheck, while Elias Zinman and Jake Acker created significant offensive pressure. The Marauders came within inches of doubling their lead at 10:13 when a puck-rushing Smith fed captain Jonny Goff with a perfect pass and the senior forward unleashed a blistering wrist shot that clanged off the crossbar.

However, despite being outshot 15-9 in the period, Bow benefitted from some fortunate officiating when Joey Goff was taken out with a hard hit from behind that puzzlingly saw no call from the referees. Bow collected the loose puck inside the Hanover zone and senior forward Christopher Mead fired the puck on Loud from the left circle. Loud made the initial save, but Hanover was unable to clear the crease and Colin Tracy eventually banged in the rebound after multiple attempts to even the score.

In the final frame, Hanover kept the pressure coming, but none of their efforts could get past Carrier and it looked as if the game may end in a frustratingly lopsided tie. However, when Bow's Austin Beaudette was sent to the box for a crosscheck at 11:53, the Hanover power play went to work. with 37 seconds remaining in the man-up, Lehmann returned the earlier favor to Smith, the former feeding a cross-ice pass to the latter who fired a high slap shot from the right point that banked off Carrier's mask and into the Falcon net for the 2-1 Marauder lead.

With just over a minute remaining and a face off in the Marauder zone, Bow called their time-out and pulled Carrier for the extra attacker. Hanover staved off the Falcon pressure, repeatedly clearing the puck out of their zone and forcing Bow to regroup. With the clock ticking down, Logan chipped the puck off a Bow attacker and fired a long shot from center ice into the empty Falcon goal to seal the victory with 8.2 seconds remaining.

Hanover outshot Bow 36-17 on the afternoon, with Loud making 16 saves and picking up the win. The Marauders look to build on the win as they take on Division I foes Trinity High School at 2:00pm tomorrow.

Marauders Drop a Five-Spot on the Panthers

Junior defenseman Braxton McNulty

had a goal and a crunching open-ice

hit on the evening.

On the longest night of the year and their final league contest of 2016, the Marauders brought some fireworks to light up the evening as they beat the visiting Purple Panthers of Nashua South to get into the win column with a 5-1 victory at Campion rink.

After two straight one-goal losses to start the season, Hanover came out fired up in the first period, eager to set the tone. Nashua South found themselves on the defensive early, and Vincent Annichiarico was sent to the bin with a tripping penalty at just over five minutes into the initial frame. At 5:42 of the period, just over 30 seconds into the penalty, captain Jonny Goff fed the puck to Jensen Dodge, who fired into goalie Nathan Radin. Radin made the initial stop, but sophomore center Elias Zinman was on the doorstep to bang in the rebound for the powerplay goal, his first of the campaign. 

Hanover would double the lead just under three minutes later on an extra-attacker goal. Panther defenseman Tyler Goy had tripped a Marauder, and senior goalie Luke Ratliff headed to the bench to send on an additional Hanover skater. Senior defenseman Will Smith continued his goal-a-game pace when he took a pass from Jake Acker in the Panthers' zone and fired it past Radin at 8:31. He and the Marauders weren't done, as 2:36 later Smith fed the puck to his defensive partner, junior Braxton McNulty, who wristed a shot into the upper corner. Hanover entered the first intermission with a 3-0 lead and 12-3 advantage in shots.

The Panthers regrouped in the locker room, and Hanover perhaps came out coasting a little too much in the second stanza. Nashua more than doubled its shots on goal in the second, and one of their eight shots found the back of the net on a goal-mouth scramble where it initially looked like Ratliff had made the save. However, wing John Pinksten managed to squeak the biscuit past the Hanover netminder, picking up the goal at 3:08 of the period. Captains Michael Fournier and Robert Haverty picked up the assists. 

Despite outshooting the Marauders 8-4 in the second, Ratliff was equal to ever other Panther effort and the two teams entered the second break with a 3-1 Hanover lead. 

Hanover came out with renewed fire in the third, and would outshoot the Panthers 10-4. Radin held the hosts at bay for most of the period, until TJ Beaver scored the third defenseman's goal of the evening with just over five minutes remaining, with assists going to senior captain Patrick Logan and 

freshman center Owen Stadheim. Nashua attempted to claw closer by pulling Radin with a minute remaining in the game, but Acker picked-off a pass and fired the puck into the empty net to cement the win.

Next up for the Marauders is the annual Manchester holiday tournament at JFK Coliseum. Hanover will open against last year's Division II runners-up, Bow at 2:00pm on Monday. 

On a Cold Night, Hot Goalies.

Senior goaltender Luke Ratliff made 21 saves 

on the night in a stellar effort despite the loss

On a frigid night, Hanover traveled as far south as one can go and still call it New Hampshire to the dark, cavernous confines of the Salem Icenter. After dominating the league with a one-loss record two years ago, Salem graduated a dozen seniors and lost their top scorer to prep school. Last year was a rebuilding year for Salem that saw them miss the playoffs. Anchored by one of the top goaltenders in the state, and bolstered by young talent, Salem looked to make a statement with in their home opener. The game turned out to be a goaltending duel, with both teams' backstops turning aside every quality even-strength scoring chance. With each team scoring once off a favorable deflection, it was a single power play goal that was the difference.

Senior Luke Ratliff got the start in goal, and Hanover came out hard in the first. Once again, the oversized ice surface at the Icenter didn’t suit Hanover’s style of play, and they had a hard time generating quality offensive chances. The highlight of the first period was a strong open-ice check from sophomore defenseman TJ Beaver. Other than a shot off the crossbar after a defensive-zone Hanover turnover, Salem’s offense didn’t generate much buzz, either, and the teams headed into the first intermission deadlocked at zero apiece.

The second period showed more offensive clicking by the Marauders, with strong work along the boards by junior forward David Lehmann to keep the puck cycling. It looked as if Hanover was seizing the momentum until the first penalty of the game saw Hanover man-down five minutes into the period. Hanover killed the first minute of the penalty without much difficulty, but at 6:22 senior defenseman Alec Svenson circled down low to the endboards to pick up a loose puck before sending it cross-ice to to the left point where freshman forward Kevin McGuire fired home the one-timer for a 1-0 Salem lead.

The remainder of the period saw little action and the teams ended the frame with the Marauders still trailing by one.

In the third period, the visitors stepped up the pace in the hopes of finding the equalizer. Junior Braxton McNulty particularly stood out in the period with excellent work pinching low on his wing boards to keep the pressure in the offensive zone, and several key defensive plays at center ice to nip Blue Devil attacks in the bud. Hans Williams also displayed some nifty open-ice footwork in carrying the puck deep into the Salem zone. Ratliff kept Hanover in it with a huge save off McGuire at 5:15.

The Marauders finally solved senior goaltender Paddy Capsalis with a little luck. At 8:18 of the third, defender Will Smith fired a high, hard shot at the Salem net that glanced off Capsalis’s shoulder and up-and-over his back. Jensen Dodge swooped from behind the endline to bang in the rebound. It looked like the momentum would swing toward the guests in maroon, but the Hanover bubble soon burst when Salem regained the lead just over a minute later. Freshman sensation McGuire scored his second goal of the night, this time benefiting from a little luck of his own with an unassisted effort at 9:50 that barely squeaked in off a deflection.

Hanover mounted an aggressive counter-attack, but it was thwarted when a tripping penalty sent them on the penalty kill again with only 2:38 to play. However, after a successful kill, due in large part to the efforts of freshman Owen Stadheim, Hanover looked like it might get one more chance for the equalizer when Salem’s Dylan Salvo was sent to the box for a trip with seventeen seconds left. With the face-off in the Blue Devil’s zone, Hanover coach Dick Dodds pulled Ratliff to the bench and sent Smith to the ice as an extra attacker for the 6-on-4 advantage. Stadheim won the face-off, but the shot from the point was blocked, and Salem sent the puck down the ice to seal the victory. Hanover mustered 22 shots on goal for the evening, nearly doubling their efforts against Londonderry. Ratliff made 21 saves on the night.

Hanover returns to the friendly confines of Campion Rink for their last league game before the annual Manchester holiday tournament. The Marauders will host the Purple Panthers of Nashua South on Thursday, December 22 at 5:10pm. Come out and cheer on the Marauders as they look to get their first win of the season.