Icemen fall to Franklin in season’s first loss

Just two days after extending its season-opening unbeaten streak to six with a convincing win over King Philip, the CHS boys’ varsity hockey team returned to home ice on Monday only to have the streak snapped by league rival Franklin in what head coach Brian Shuman called a “winnable game.”

The Bulldogs certainly held their own against the Panthers — arguably the Hock’s most talented team — for large stretches of the game; however, they failed to capitalize on several late scoring chances as Franklin (6-1) held on for the 3-2 victory.

“It was a great game to watch — very evenly matched,” remarked Shuman after the game. “Honestly, I think they were just marginally better than us in almost all facets of the game.”

Canton actually outplayed the Panthers throughout most of the opening period, and the effort paid off with about five minutes remaining as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by sophomore JC Marcone, with assists from sophomore Nick O’Connor and senior Greg Boyd.

But Franklin bounced back at the start of the second period, collecting two goals in two minutes — including one on a breakdown in Canton’s defensive zone — to go up 2-1. Canton managed to tie it just a few minutes later, although Shuman said the goal, scored by Pat Ward on a breakaway, had originated from somewhat of a “lucky bounce” on a clearing pass.

The score was still knotted at 2 until about halfway through the third period, when a Franklin player took advantage of a bad shift change and went in alone to give the Panthers the lead for good.

Shuman said the game-winning goal had come right after another ineffective Canton power play, while later adding, “I think we actually gave up momentum on the power play because we just couldn’t get anything going at all.”

Despite Monday’s disappointing result, Shuman said he was pleased with the overall effort and performance of his players. He also said the team has proven it can beat other talented teams, with their most recent example coming on Saturday, when they got five unanswered goals, including a hat trick by Marcone, to beat an “enigmatic” King Philip team at home 5-2.

Shuman said the Warriors (1-7-1) are far more capable than their record suggests and have held a lead in several of their games this season, including against the Bulldogs on Saturday. In fact, KP still had a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period, but a pair of Canton goals — one by Boyd and the other by sophomore Matt Lennon — highlighted a second period in which the Bulldogs outshot KP 14-2.

The final period belonged to Marcone, who scored three straight goals after the eight-minute mark with a pair of assists from Kurt Leavitt and another from Boyd. “JC had an incredible period,” said Shuman.

KP would add a late goal with about 30 seconds left, but by then the damage had already been done.

The Bulldogs (5-1-1) had two games this week — against North Attleboro last night and home versus undefeated Mansfield on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 20 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.