Hanover
The Marauders, who dropped to 6-9 after Saturday’s 15-5 home loss to Bedford, are one of four teams battling for the final two playoff berths in the 10-team Division I tournament. Concord (6-7) sits ninth and Hanover, Nashua North and Salem are tied for 10th.
Hanover and Salem each have three games remaining on their regular-season schedules while Nashua North has only one contest to play — at Hanover on Monday. The Marauders close with road games at Manchester Central (1-14) on Wednesday and Londonderry (9-7) on Thursday, a span of four games in six days.
“We’ve talked about how proud the coaching staff and the community is of the tradition that Hanover has,” second-year coach Ryan Gardner said. “How we’ve always made the playoffs and we have a huge week coming up to see if that continues. It could well come down to the last day.”
Hanover was in the state title game and finished 17-4 recently as 2012. The program is 44-28 since then, including a 12-6 record last spring. There’s been some talk of the Marauders dropping to Division II, where they would still have among the smallest enrollments. Gardner said he’s not convinced such a move is imminent.
“So long as we’re in the playoffs and we’re fighting, I don’t think that time is yet,” he said. “Hanover’s been a Division I program since 1994 and so long as we can be competitive, this is where we belong. We have a lot of historical rivalries in Division I, and it’s nice to continue to play those teams.”
Generally speaking, that is, because Saturday wasn’t much fun for the hosts. Hanover was dominated on faceoffs, struggled in net and forced Bedford’s goaltenders to make only six saves. Hanover led, 2-1, after seven minutes but trailed, 9-2, by halftime.
“We lost a lot of really talented offensive players last year, so we’ve been rebuilding and trying to fit new guys into new spots,” Marauders defenseman Tristan Gosselin said. “It takes more effort to score and we have more turnovers, but those are things we can correct. We just have to keep fighting to get what we want.”
Gardner touted his defense before the season, but Hanover has surrendered double-digit goals seven times. Part of Saturday’s issue was the excused absence of starter Kaleb Hunt and a sick Gosselin playing at what his coach estimated was only 50 percent. Without real firepower and by winning just 6 of 22 faceoffs, the Marauders spent much of the game in their own end.
“As the game wore on, their getting so many possessions made it really hard for us to come back,” Gardner said. “It hurts when you’re playing defensively two-thirds of the time and that’s been a problem for us all year. And their faceoff guy is outstanding.”
That’s Bedford’s Zac Tucci, an Ivy League lacrosse prospect who popped the ball through his legs and to a waiting teammate when Hanover’s wings lay back. If the Marauders’ side men shadowed their counterparts, however, Tucci slid the ball laterally and then pushed it forward to himself, leading a fast break. His opponent on most draws was junior Owen Brooks, a first-year varsity player.
The elephant in the room when one discusses Hanover, however, is goaltending. Senior Zander Lingelbach-Pierce is a four-year varsity player and a two-year starter whose work ethic is unquestioned, but who struggles stopping shots from top-tier foes. He made six saves against the Bulldogs, all during the first half, but was repeatedly victimized on attempts from the alleys on either side of the net. Junior backup Joe Warhold came on for the final eight minutes.
“Zander has improved immensely from last year and what you may not see is his strong role in the clearing game and talking us through our defense,” said Gardner, noting that Hanover was somewhat spoiled by having three consecutive standouts, Sam Gest, James Washington and Chris Washington, before Lingelbach-Pierce took over. “(Bedford) has some really good shooters and it’s hard for anyone in the state to stop them.”
The Bulldogs scored on their first shot of the game and on their first three shots of the third quarter. They held a 43-24 shot advantage during the game. Hanover received two goals each from Brian Seltzer and Brian Pattison and another from Graham Penfield, who also added an assist.
George Geraghty, a Hanover senior attackman, had four assists and boosted his career points total to 126, tied with 2008 graduate Dennis Lally and good for 16th on Hanover’s all-time list. Geraghty’s brother, Charlie, a 2011 graduate, had 122 points as a Marauder before playing at St. Anselm College, which George also plans to attend.
Notes: Hanover hopes to soon regain the services of senior faceoff man Kaz Matsuoka, who suffered a broken hand early in the season. … Gardener said Bedford has players committed to play at Brown and Air Force. … George Geraghty’s 79 assists tie him for sixth all-time at Hanover, also tied with Lally. The latter appeared in nine games during three seasons at Dartmouth. … Gardner was a 1996 high school academic All-American as a Hanover player. The Princeton graduate is 18-15 during two seasons coaching the Marauders. His predecessor, Jeff Reed, now coaching in Hanover’s youth ranks, was 106-30 at the high school level from 2006-14. Mark Boillotat was 61-82 from 1998-2005.