CHS icemen bow to Franklin, finish 2nd in the Hockomock

For the second time this season, the CHS boys’ varsity hockey team played well enough to beat its biggest rival, the Franklin Panthers, but somehow still ended up losing by a lopsided score – only this time it occurred on home ice with a possible league title on the line.

While it wasn’t for lack of effort, or lack of opportunities – Canton outshot Franklin 22-12 for the game – the Bulldogs simply could not find the net with enough regularity, while the Panthers did just that, skating away with an opportunistic 3-1 victory last Thursday to clinch their first Hock championship in three seasons.

“Once again, the story with Franklin has been the same this year,” head coach Brian Shuman said afterwards. “We played pretty well, but these guys, they find a way to win.”

Shuman said his team had plenty of chances to score in the first two periods, but they failed to capitalize while Franklin scored in both frames, including one that was redirected off a Canton player’s stick. But the real “backbreaker” came partway through the third period, when the puck took a couple of strange bounces before making its way to a Panther for a wide-open shot, giving Franklin a three-goal advantage.

Two minutes later, Bobby Hayhurst scored to make it 3-1 with an assist from Matt Buckley, but it was too little, too late as the defending champs were forced to settle for second place.

Looking on the bright side, Shuman said his team has “yet to play [its] best” against Franklin and actually hopes the two squads meet again come tournament time, which gets underway next week.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs proved their resiliency just two days later, when they returned to the same ice to wallop Mansfield 6-1 and “avenge” an earlier tie.

Canton scored a pair of goals in each of the three periods, led by senior Kyle Leavitt, who finished with two goals and an assist. Also scoring for the Bulldogs were junior defenseman Mike Oldenberg, seniors Frank Eckler and Joey DiPillo, and freshman Nick O’Connor. Buckley, Hayhurst, Mike Denehy, and Kevin Rooney each had one assist.

But the biggest star on Saturday, according to Shuman, was goaltender John Donaruma, who made several “incredible stops” to preserve the lead in a game that was closer than the score indicated.

“It could have easily been a 4-3 or 4-4 game (at the end of two periods),” Shuman said, “but John stood tall and made some great saves.”

The victory brought Canton’s overall record to 13-3-1 with three games to go in the regular season, including nonleague games against Hanover and North Quincy earlier this week, followed by a makeup game against North Attleboro this afternoon at the Foxboro Sports Center.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 18 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.