Girls’ soccer team knocks off champs to take over 1st place
By Jay Turner
Senior Kayla Laughlin is having an outstanding season for the undefeated Bulldogs. (Mike Barucci photo)
After cruising through the first two weeks of the season with six victories in six games, the CHS girls’ varsity soccer team faced its toughest test to date last Friday at Oliver Ames and still made it look easy, beating the Tigers 3-0 to capture sole possession of first place in the Hockomock’s Davenport Division.
The victory was the Bulldogs’ third of the week as well as their fifth shutout in seven games. More importantly, it came against the reigning division champions on their home field and was every bit as convincing as the score indicated.
On paper at least, both teams appeared evenly matched, with the Bulldogs and Tigers both sporting identical league records of 5-0 coming into Friday’s game.
But Canton got off to a strong start and went on to dominate the first half of play, building a 2-0 lead on goals by Meghan Lennon and Lauren Berman. Lennon’s goal came in the 15th minute on a perfectly placed near-post cross from junior Brianna Duserick, who also assisted on the goal by Berman less than five minutes later.
Refusing to go down quietly, the Tigers made a brief push early in the second half that threatened to swing the momentum in their favor. But the Canton girls weathered the challenge and eventually regained control, culminating with Berman’s second goal of the afternoon, which came midway through the half and all but sealed the win for the red-hot Bulldogs.
After the game, head coach Paul Turner had nothing but praise for his players, who continue to display the kind of mental toughness that had eluded them at times last season.
“We came in with a game plan and the players executed it well,” said Turner. “They controlled the action for the most part and they defended really well.”
“Everything we had been working on throughout the week came together,” he added. “I was very proud of the way we played.”
Besides Friday’s big win in Easton, the girls also took care of business last week against both North Attleboro and King Philip.
The NA game, played at home Monday night, was pretty much over at halftime as the Bulldogs built a three-goal lead and then held on in the second half for a 5-2 win. On Wednesday at KP, the girls jumped out to a 2-0 lead before sealing the win with a pair of second-half goals by senior Vicki Tondre.
“I thought we played very, very well all week,” said Turner, whose team combined for a dozen goals through three games while allowing just two.
The Canton coach also credited the “outstanding” play of his back four — Megan Barrera, Kim McNally, Jessie Brooks and Hailee Duserick — as well as the team’s two goalkeepers, Kelly Bradley and Kristin Burns.
Despite the Bulldogs’ impressive start, Turner said the entire team remains focused on two things: getting better and winning the next game.
This week, Canton was due to play Stoughton at home on Tuesday in its only game of the week. The team is then off until next Monday, when they will host Attleboro at 3:30 p.m.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=8399
Posted by Jay Turner
on Sep 28 2011. Filed under High School, Sports.
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