WEST LEBANON — In a highly anticipated NHIAA Division I girls’ hockey quarterfinal that had James W. Campion III Rink packed to the gills on Friday night, Hanover High came out victorious, 2-1, over the co-op of Lebanon-Kearsarge-Mascoma.
Seeing as the two regular-season matchups between these squads were decided by a goal, it was only natural that their postseason date would be too.
Hanover, which picked up its first win over the Raiders this season, was led offensively by freshman Caroline Warrington, who scored twice. Fellow freshman Piper Hansen picked up an assist.
Hanover got on the board early, just under three minutes into the contest.
“I was really pleased with the way we played — we’ve been playing really strong hockey the last couple of weeks,” Bears’ Head Coach John Dodds said. “We always try to peak at the beginning of March. … I’m just impressed with the way our girls battled.”
Trailing 2-0 late in the third period, the No. 1 seed Raiders needed some late-game heroics to extend their season. With just under two minutes, they cut the Bears’ lead in half on a goal from junior Julia McGee.
However, McGee’s goal proved to be too little, too late, as the No. 8 seed Bears held on to claim the win.
Down 1-0 early, the Raiders were unable to do much offensively in the first frame, only registering four shots on goal. They also could not take advantage of a power play opportunity in the period — foreshadowing things to come.
The Raiders’ special teams struggles continued in the second period as they could not capitalize on a Hanover hook that occurred less than a minute into the frame.
Shortly after the Bears killed their hooking penalty, they got a power play opportunity of their own. Unlike the Raiders, they took advantage to take a 2-0 lead with 8:29 left in the second period on Warrington’s second goal of the night. The talented forward skated through the Lebanon penalty killers and fired a laser through traffic from the top of the circles.
Before the end of the second frame, the Raiders squandered two more power plays.
While the Bears could not build on their lead in the third period, the Raiders for most of the frame could not penetrate the Hanover defense until McGee’s goal.
On the ensuing face-off, McGee took a hard hit into the boards, which drew the ire of Raiders fans looking for a penalty.
“I’m going to have to watch it again on video — my concern was it was behind — if there’s a situation where somebody gets hit from behind, any team, any player, like it’s not a good thing,” Raiders’ Head Coach Dan McGee said.
“That’s what it looked like. I’ll just have to watch the tape and see what happened. Obviously, having a power play with a minute left would have been nice,” he added.
There was no call on the ice, and in the end, no goal from the Raiders to tie the game by the time the final horn sounded.
McGee’s message to his squad, who entered Friday’s game having not lost to an in-state opponent all season, was to keep their heads up.
“(We) had an amazing season, and it’s not always defined by one game; there’s a lot that we built that we should be really proud of,” he said.
With the win, the Bears, who have won the state championship the last two seasons, will battle Bishop Brady-Trinity-Bow in a semifinal matchup at Everett Arena on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“We rely on our tradition,” Dodds said. “Some of the girls have been there the last couple of years, and freshmen are slowly getting their taste of our culture, and it’s just what we expect in March.”
