Hooksett, n.h. — Back-to-back shutout victories proved to be enough to help the Hanover high boys hockey team secure a first-round bye in the upcoming New Hampshire Division I playoffs.

The Marauders closed the regular season with their second shutout over Bishop Brady in as many days, defeating the Giants, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon.

Hanover needed to win both their regular-season closing games over Bishop Brady to get the No. 4 seed, and a first-round bye. The Marauders (16-6 overall, 13-5 NHIAA) started the run with a 2-0 shutout of the Giants on Friday night at Campion Rink.

Goalie Gabe Loud made 21 saves. Hans Williams scored on the power play in the first period for Hanover, with assists to Jake Acker and Will Smith.

“It was a big weekend. We rode some strong defense. All our defensemen played really strong two-way games for us, which we needed,” Hanover coach Dick Dodds said. “We’re hoping to ride that defensive wave the rest of the way.”

Dodds added praise for the play of Smith, Pat Logan, T.J. Beaver and Braxton McNulty. The Marauders will host a D-I quarterfinal game on Saturday at Campion.

Hartford 2, Brattleboro 2 (ot)

White River Junction — The Hurricanes (15-4-1) clinched the top seed in the upcoming Vermont D-II playoffs with a tie against the visiting Colonels.

The Canes peppered Brattleboro goalie Sam Griffith, but the Colonels netminder was up to the task with 49 saves.

Jordy Allard scored in the first period for Hartford, with assists to Tyler Hamilton and Ben Rouillard. Hamilton added a go-ahead goal in the second with an assist to Rouillard. Brattleboro tied it up on a goal with 2:23 left to play in the third period.

Canes goalie Richie Morrill had 21 saves. Hartford earned a bye through the first round of the playoffs and open at home in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

St. Thomas 5Lebanon-Stevens 1

West Lebanon — The Raiders closed the regular season on a down note on senior night.

Lebanon-Stevens answered an early St. Thomas goal with a Nate Chickering strike later in the first period, assisted by Peter Elder. The Saints pulled away with a pair of goals in both the second and third periods.

“Both teams fought hard. We had to deal with some adversity tonight but I was proud of the way we handled ourselves. We’re looking ahead now,” Raiders coach Gary Smith said.

The Raiders (10-10 overall, 9-9 NHIAA) still have hopes of opening the New Hampshire D-II playoffs at home on Wednesday, pending the results of other games.

Senior goalie Jordan Hammond had 34 saves.

Rutland 12, Woodstock 5

Rutland — The Wasps closed the regular season with a loss at the Raiders.

Woodstock, with a roster full of underclassmen, finishes with a 4-15-1 record in its first season in Vermont D-I.

Tilton 6, Kimball Union 5 (ot)

Meriden — The Wildcats lost an overtime thriller to Tilton on Friday night.

Roope Hirvonen led KUA with a pair of goals. Mike Lombardi, Bryce Dolan and Jordan Harris also scored. The score was knotted up, 2-2, through two periods. KUA rallied to lead 5-4 late in the final period before Tilton scored the game-tying goal with four seconds left to play.

Girls Hockey

Hanover 16, Kingswood 0

Wolfeboro, n.h. — Cate Wagner had two goals and five assists to help the Marauders improve to 15-2-1 overall, 15-1-1 in NHIAA play.

Clare Gardner and Mahler Meyerrose each had a hat trick. Clara Boland, Maggie Lee, Maddie Lyons and Briland Laycock each had two goals. Leslie McNamara added three assists. Boland, Meyerrose and Laycock each had two assists. Hannah Curtis, Emma Tysinger, Bryn Kable, Sarah MacCormick and Sylvie Alexander had one assist each.

Freshman goalie Claire Yegian earned the shutout. Hanover concludes a stretch of six games in eight days today with a visit to Bishop Guertin.

Exeter 7, Lebanon-Stevens 2

Exeter, n.h. — The Raiders led, 1-0, midway through the second period against the No. 1-ranked Blue Hawks.

“It was hands-down the best our girls have played this season. They played their positions well and weren’t making any panic passes. Exeter is a really strong team,” Raiders coach Brad Shaw said.

Sage Ballard scored both goals for the visitors. The first put Lebanon-Stevens in front, 1-0, in the second period. The Raiders then appeared to have scored another to go in front, 2-0, but the goal was called back when the referees ruled the score came after a whistle. Startled, the Raiders’ defense cracked and the Blue Hawks answered with three goals in a quick flurry to lead 4-1.

Ballard added another goal in the third period. Goalie Halle Drew made 43 saves.

Exeter improved to 17-1 in NHIAA play. Lebanon drops to 7-10 and now looks ahead to hosting Keene in a NHIAA first-round game on Tuesday night. The winner will advance to visit No. 1 seed Exeter on Saturday.

Rice 3, Hartford 0

White River Junction — The Canes closed the regular season with a shutout loss against the Green Knights.

Goalie Maggie Gilman had 38 saves for Hartford (4-12-4). The Canes host North Country-Lyndon for a Vermont D-II first round game on Tuesday night.

Missisquoi 4, Woodstock 1

Highgate, Vt. — The Wasps (14-5-1) dropped their second straight game to close the regular season. Woodstock looks ahead to the Vermont D-II playoffs starting this week.

Hannah Coates scored for Woodstock with assists to Anna Hepler and Lizzy Peck. Goalie Bridgit Black made 25 saves.

Boys Basketball

Thetford 41, Lyndon 34

Thetford — The Vermont D-III Panthers playing a stifling brand of defense in the fourth quarter to earn a season-closing victory over the D-II Vikings.

Thetford trailed, 30-27, heading into the fourth quarter before closing on a 14-4 run.

“Defense won the game for us,” Panthers coach Jason Gray said. “We shut them down and played very well defensively in the second half. We forced turnovers, took a lead and kept grinding and playing defense.”

Lawson Oullette and Dylan Thorburn each had 14 points for Thetford. Owen Deffner added eight points. Next up for the Panthers (6-14) is a road game to start the D-III playoffs.

“To beat a D-II team like Lyndon, who is pretty good, it puts a good taste in your mouth heading into the postseason,” Gray added.

Girls Basketball

Chelsea 39, Sharon 35

Sharon — The Phoenix lost a heartbreaker following an explosive fourth quarter by both teams.

Neither offense was able to find a groove until the fourth quarter when Chelsea outscored Sharon 19-15 to secure the victory. The Phoenix (7-10) remain in position to secure a home game in the Vermont D-IV playoffs with a strong close the regular season this week, starting with a visit to Mid Vermont Christian on Tuesday night.

Grace Dorman led Sharon with 13 points. Mallory Lloyd added nine points and Eliza Masteller had seven.

“They just made a couple more plays that we did,” Sharon coach Gregg Nalette said. “It was a great effort by our girls. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come to get in a good position here. To get a home playoff game would be pretty cool for this group.”

Bowling

Vt. Individual Tournament

Shelburne, Vt. — Fair Haven’s Cody Seaver won the Vermont individual title, beating South Burlington’s Maddy Denton in the stepladder finals by a score of 203-164.

Randolph’s Logan Lumbra won the opening No. 4 vs. No. 3 seed matchup, 193-137, over Brattleboro’s Jeremy Lackey. Lumbra then lost to Denton in the semifinal matchup, 223-213, in what turned out to the match of the day.

Springfield’s Matt Power won the top-seed in qualifying, rolling games of 202-227-268. Power was upset by Lackey, 210-185, in the first round of single elimination. Windsor’s Brandyn LeBarron qualified 13th with games of 196-180-193 and then lost a high-scoring thriller to Denton, 260-256, in single elimination. Hartford’s Joey Raymond just missed a top-16 qualifying score with 189-136-204 to finish 20th overall.