Sunday Shotfest

Sophomore defenseman Duncan Bailey scored his first 

career  goal in the third period to ice the victory. 

After dropping 48 shots on Manchester Central the night before, the Hanover Marauders continued the barrage the next day against Exeter, throwing 44 at the Blue Hawks before coming away with the 5-1 victory. As in the previous night's game, it was only solid goaltending on the part of the visitors – in this case, sophomore goaltender Alex Warr – that kept the game from being a blowout early.

Playing in the spacious Thompson Arena at Dartmouth College as a Sunday Special, Hanover burst out of the gate and put two quick shots on Warr on the first shift. Warr saved that pair of shots, as well as 15 others throughout the period to stymie the Hanover attack. At the other end of the ice, Hanover's Luke Ratliff was equal to the challenge, turning away 12 Exeter shots on the period. Neither team could break through, and the teams headed into the locker room tied at 0-0 after one.

Earlier in the season, the second period was Hanover's achilles heel, but lately it has been the strongest period for the Marauders. The trend continued today when the hosts broke the scoring ice just 47 seconds into the period. After thwarting an Exeter attack, Hanover defenseman Patrick Logan gathered the puck in his own zone and fired a long lead pass to forward Jake Acker. Acker dished to Jonathan Goff, who walked in on Warr and beat the sophomore net minder with a wrist shot.

The 1-0 lead would hold up until 5:32 when Logan doubled it with a blistering low slap shot goal from top of the right face off circle off a feed from Goff. Three minutes later, defenseman Will Smith threaded the hockey equivalent of a touchdown pass, as he found Jensen Dodge all alone at the Exeter blue line and hit him with a crisp lead pass from the side of his own net. Dodge broke in alone on Warr; while the Blue Hawk goalie denied Dodge's first shot, he left the rebound right out in front and Dodge followed his shot and banged in the rebound.

Despite mustering only five previous shots in the period, Exeter converted with just three minutes remaining to cut the lead to 3-1. After Logan took Exeter's Ben Baldarsaro hard into the boards behind the Hanover net, the puck squirted loose to Garrett Fisher, who fed immediately to an unmarked Rob Andreasse, who was streaking in from the left circle. Andreasse banged home the pass for Exeter's only score of the period and the game.

Hanover came into the final period with the same energy they displayed in the second, and took just 43 seconds to regain the three-goal lead. On the opening shift, Goff fed Acker at the left circle and the team leader in goals unleashed a blistering low wrist shot that beat Warr to the stick side.

The remainder of the period was the most even stretch of the night, with both teams trading blows and both goaltenders pushing them aside. Warr robbed freshman Owen Stadheim with a flashy glove save on a low shot from the young center that almost netted him his second goal of the campaign. With just under two minutes remaining in the context, sophomore defenseman Duncan Bailey scored his first career goal with a long wrist shot from the left point that found the top corner of the Blue Hawks' goal. Jake Acker picked up the assist for his third point of the night.

With the victory, Hanover improves to 12-5 overall,  9-4 in NHIAA Division I. Exeter drops to 3-8. Ratliff made 24 saves for the win. Hanover will hit the road again on Wednesday, taking on second-place Concord. Game time is 5:30 at Everett Arena.

Home Again, Home Again...

Senior captain Patrick Logan had two 

goals and an assist on the night, including

the game-winning goal at 3:05 of the first. 

After being shutout for the first time this season in league play in their Wednesday road match against the Pinkerton Astros, Hanover returned to the friendly confines of Campion Rink and dropped their own clean sheet on the visiting Little Green of Manchester Central. In front a packed crowd of raucous students, the Marauders outshot Central by a staggering 9-to-1 margin and came away with the 5-0 victory and another crucial two points in the final month's push toward playoff seeding.

Hanover seemed determined to set the tone and applied the pressure to the visitors from the opening faceoff. Central soon found themselves man-down when Will Hebert took a high-sticking penalty just 2:45 into the game. It took the Marauder powerplay just 20 seconds to take advantage. Set up confidently in the zone and moving the puck crisply among all five attackers, Jensen Dodge fed Patrick Logan at the central point. The senior defenseman walked in two steps before roofing a wrist shot that past Central goaltender Keenan Alnahas and into the top of the net. Fellow senior captain Jonny Goff also assisted on the goal.

Hanover special teams proved just as deadly on the flipside of the man-up/man-down equation. With senior Grant Morhun serving a rare penalty, the maroon-and-white's penalty kill proved as deadly as their powerplay. Beating a Central defenser on the right wing, David Lehmann walked into the Central slot and beat Alnahas with a low wrist shot. Assists went to freshman Owen Stadheim and Logan. Only the brilliant play of Alnahas kept the game within reach for the Little Green, as Hanover outshot the visitors 19-2 on the period, but headed into the locker room for the first intermission with only the 2-0 lead that belied their complete domination of the period.

Looking to shake their second period blues reputation, Hanover picked up right where they left off in the middle frame and completely outplayed the Little Green from puck drop to final horn. Owning an unbelievable 20-0 advantage in shots in the period, Alnahas's play was the only thing keeping the game from becoming a rout. Despite the relentless pressure, Hanover could only find the back of the Central net once in the period, with Logan picking up his second goal of the game at 10:41. With the Marauders set-up in the Central zone, senior Will Smith fed his defensive partner across the point. The latter circled low on the wing before unleashing a shot from the faceoff circle that beat Alnahas to the glove side for the 3-0 lead that would remain for the duration of the period.

Sophomore Charlie Plottner scored his

first career goal midway through the third.

Having outshot the visitors 39-2 in the first two-thirds of the game, despite owning only a 3-0 lead, Hanover coach Dick Dodds lengthened the bench in the third period. This strategy paid off when recent JV-call-up Cam Woods fed freshman Rowan Wilson, who set-up sophomore Charile Plottner's first varsity goal at 8:34 of the period.

The third period would prove to be more balanced in play than the first two, but Hanover still owned a 9-2 advantage in shots. With just under five minutes remaining, Smith capped the lead with a slap shot blast from the left point that beat Alnahas high, with assists going to Lehmann and Elias Zinmann. Hanover would pick up a penalty at 13:30 of the period giving Central one last chance to break the shutout, but once again the penalty kill unit kept the visitors on their heels and the hosts coasted to the finish line with the 5-0 lead intact.

With the win, the Marauders improve to 11-5 on the season, 8-4 in NHIAA Division I. Manchester Central drops to 5-8 with the loss. With the shutout, senior goaltender Gabe Loud moves to fifth all-time on the Hanover shutout list. Next up for the Marauders is a Super Bowl Sunday matinee against Exeter at Dartmouth's Thompson Arena. Game time is 3:30.

Deja Vu All Over Again… All Over Again.

In a game that was eerily similar to last year's afternoon visit to the industrially sterile warehouse known as the Ice Den, Hanover dropped a frustrating game to a less talented but highly spirited Astros squad.

Scoring began early with a puzzling goal by Chris Gile just 1:12 into the first period. With senior goalie Luke Ratliff seemingly having the puck covered with his glove, the referee sounded his whistle. Nevertheless, Gile slapped at the puck and sent it into the Hanover net, and the referee pointed at the net signaling "goal." Despite protests and calls for explanation from the Hanover bench, the improbably goal was counted and Pinkerton was credited with the 1-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Lucas Masciarelli.

The inscrutable goal seemed to rattle the Marauders who never established much flow or momentum after that point. The visitors' best chance came when captain Jonny Goff was hauled down on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot with just 0.8 seconds remaining in the second period. Goff had scored earlier in the season on a penalty shot versus Bedford, but this time Astros goalie Dakota Robinson read Goff's deke to the backhand and stoned him on the post to preserve the Pinkerton lead.

A physical third period lead to two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties – one for each team – but no goals until the final minutes when Pinkerton's Cody Sullivan slipped a backhander past Ratliff with 1:33 left in the game on a breakaway after a nice feed from Chris Gile.

Robinson finished with 33 saves, while Ratliff ended the game with 31. With the loss, Hanover drops to Record: 10-5 overall, 7-4 in NHIAA Division I play. Pinkerton improves to 9-2 with the win. Hanover returns home Saturday evening to face the Manchester Central Little Green at 6:20 at Campion.