Marauders Survive and Advance, Breaking Penalty Jinx with Sudden Victory over Winnacunnet

The Marauder Varsity played one of the most dramatic and entertaining games in Merriman-Branch history Wednesday, beating Winnacunnet in a sudden death penalty kick shootout to advance to the quarterfinal round of the NHIAA Division One Tournament.  Trailing or tied for most of the game against a fired-up Warrior squad, the Marauders rallied to tied the game twice, and after dominating 20 minutes of scoreless golden goal overtime, they calmly won a nerve-shattering shootout in the seventh round.  The penalty kick victory was Senior Night, with Charlie Adams, Judd Alexander, Lathan Allison, Joey Perras and Amane Matsuoka each scoring a critical goal.  After Matsuoka's seventh-round shot, Winnacunnet shooter Ryan Murray sailed his shot one the bar, sealing the Marauder win and triggering a wild celebration as the victorious Hanover players were swallowed by the large and boisterous crown that had supported and listed them all game.

Hanover now advances to the Quarterfinal round of the tournament, and will host sixth-seeded Keene on Saturday at 2:00.

The penalty kick victory ends a bitter series of tournament losses via the shootout, four times in the past eight seasons.  Coach Grabill had never won on penalties until Wednesday.  The Marauders lost at home to Goffstown in 2011 in the infamous Lights Out game.  They lost to Pinkerton in the Semifinals in 2014, and lost again to Londonderry in thee semifinals in 2015.  Most recently, Hanover  lost a bitter shootout defeat in 2017 at Pinkerton after their overtime game winner was stolen.  Thus, this cathartic victory does a great deal for the franchise.  Plus, perhaps, it will send the Marauders into the game against Keene a bit hungrier.

Hanover certainly started on the right foot against Winnacunnett, taking a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the match when Charlie Adams got the ball with Matsuoka's help on the right side of the box, and found time and room to tuck a ball inside the far post.  Winnacunnet was unfazed, and spend most of the next 30 minutes on the front foot.  The Warriors tied the game ten minutes into the match when speedy Chaz Ziolkowski found space on the right side and beat the slow-to-close Hanover defense to a spot where he had a unguarded shot from close range past Pewrras.  Eight minutes. later, they took a lead on a beautiful goal, with a long pass played to frontrunner Gavin O'Hara, who controlled the ball and slid a lateral pass to a speeding Ryan Murray, who ran past his defender and whipped a nice shot into the net.  Hanover had little success offensively until the waning moments of the half, when they finally earned their first corner kicks, and almost got a short-range shot from Henry Aspinwall, who got possession deep in the box but saw a shot blocked.

Not prone to panic, Hanover grew into the game quickly in the second half, and tied the score on a spectacular free kick fro the left side into the upper right corner by Adams, his 22nd goal of the season.  Winnacunnet stayed aggressive, and had a good attempt foiled moments later on a nice tackle in the box by Kyle Doucette.  The Marauders missed a chance when a long Adams free kick nearly connected with his favorite target, Doucette.  Joey Perras had to be at his best to keep Winnacunnet in check, coming off his line more than once to contest 50-50 balls, and making an excellent save after being shaken up.  Hanover had another near miss in the 63rd minute when a pass across the face of the goal was nearly converted by Blake Palmer.

Winnacunnet shocked the large and supportive home crowd in the 66th minute during a rare foray into the Hanover end when Ziolkowski took the ball in the box and made a quick left to right run to create space for a short, hard, accurate shot past Perras.  Hanover jumped right back into mix 90 seconds later when Latham Allison found room in a mosh pit in front of the Winnacunnet goal ti tie the game.  Hanover had a few more looks in the final 10 minutes, but the best shot before the end of regulation was a close-range Warrior shot that sailed over the bar. There was no inevitability in this contest. The game was up for grabs.

That said, Hanover dominated the to 10-minute sudden victory overtime periods.  Blake Palmer ripped a shot past the post, and Henry Aspinwall just missed connecting with it with a great far post run. Adams had a shot blocked for a dangerous corner.  In the second overtime, the chances were even more numerous.  Allison missed connenctions on a header. Palmer had another great shot slide just wide of the post.  Allison and Matsuoka each had great looks before the final whistle.

Losing all of the time in penalties means that  you're paranoid about penalties, and you tend to start practicing the second you reach postseason.  Hanover had devoted some time to penalties during each postseason practice, and their demeanor during the shootout was a confident one.  Adams led off for Hanover and cooly converted the leadoff penalty into the left corner.  Marauder fans rejoiced when Joey Perras made a great dive too his left to deny Ziolkowski.  Blake Palmer pulled his shot wide to the right and then Cam Hart converted, and the shootout was tied.

Eric Ringer's soft shot went right to Warrior goalie Nathan Today. but Hanover caught a break when Marcos Charlotte hit a shot that grazed the left upright and missed.  The next two shooters for each team made their shots, with Judd Alexander and Latham Allison cooly converting for Hanover.
With the score tied at 5-5. Perras dramatically doffed his gloves and coldly hit his shot into the left corner.  After Daniel Kim tied it for the Warriors, their third straight clutch shot, Matsuoka made no mistake for Hanover's fifth goal.  Ryan Murray's shot almost made a bid for the parking lot, and Hanover had their cherished win. They survive, they advance, and their season continues.