Girls’ hockey team rights ship with 2 big wins

After an up-and-down past few weeks, the Canton High girls’ ice hockey team appeared to finally right the ship last week with impressive wins over previously unbeaten Norwood (7-5) and Whitman-Hanson/Pembroke (9-5).

Sophomore Casey Considine (Mike Barucci photo)

Both games were played at the friendly confines of Metropolis Rink, although the Norwood contest officially counted as an away game, while the WHP game had to be moved there due to a scheduling mix-up.

Nevertheless, it was the first time all season that the Bulldogs have been able to string together consecutive victories, and it finally pushed their record over .500 to 5-4 overall.

By far the most impressive win of the two came on Martin Luther King Day against Bay State power Norwood, which went into the game at 6-0-1 with several blowout victories to its credit.

Coming in as the decided underdogs, Canton managed to get off to a fast start and took a 2-0 lead in the first period on a pair of goals by junior Meaghan McKenna as well as strong goaltending by Emily Buckley. The Bulldogs then extended their lead to 5-2 in the second frame as Meghan Lennon, Haley Gaughan, and Stephanie Rizzitano all netted goals for the visitors.

In the third, Gaughan struck again to give Canton a 6-2 advantage, but Norwood’s Emily Kelly, who had scored the Mustangs’ first two goals, came through with a shorthanded goal to complete the hat trick. Norwood then added another score to turn what had looked to be a blowout into a two-goal game.

Not to be outdone by Norwood’s Kelly, McKenna would score again to complete her own hat trick and make it 7-4 in favor of the Bulldogs. Norwood responded with its fifth goal only 30 seconds later; however, the Canton defense clamped down after that, capping off the stand with a 5-on-3 penalty kill to close out the game.

After the game, head coach Kelly Rider talked about the significance of beating the Mustangs, who had handed Canton a painful loss last season on a last-second goal.

“It was a big win for us,” Rider said, “and I think we can look back at the end of the season and say that this game signaled a turnaround for us.”

With momentum in hand, the Bulldogs went up against Whitman-Hanson/Pembroke on Friday determined to continue their winning ways.

“While the first six or so minutes of the game got off to a slow start, we then picked it up and were pretty much flying the rest of the game,” said Rider.

Senior captain Michelle McNeil was the offensive leader for Canton, as she earned a hat trick and finished the game with four points. Other goal scorers included Katie Kelleher, Mary McNeil, Rizzitano, McKenna, Gaughan, and Jackie Martin.

“I think we displayed the most consistent team play throughout an entire game so far this season,” said Rider. “It was fun to watch and exciting to see the strides we’ve made and our team chemistry continue to grow.”

The Bulldogs were hoping to go 3 for 3 last week, but their game against Medway/Ashland was postponed due to snow. This week, they were due to host Westwood on Wednesday and Dover-Sherborn on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=11124

Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 25 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.