Boys’ lax team crushes Sharon to claim 2nd place in Davenport

Junior Pat Ward continued his hot streak with 4 more goals last week. (Mike Barucci photo)

A lopsided victory over Sharon was the big highlight for the CHS boys’ lacrosse team as the Bulldogs went 1-2 last week to fall to 7-9 overall.

Although head coach Bill Bendell would have liked to have won at least one more to get to .500, he was generally pleased with the team’s effort in all three contests, including a 5-1 loss to division leading Foxboro on Monday and a 15-10 defeat against nonleague Milton on Saturday.

The Foxboro game, in particular, showed how greatly the Bulldogs have improved these past few weeks, as they managed to go toe-to-toe with a Warriors’ squad that had beaten them 12-4 just a month earlier.

Senior goalie Devin Costa, who did not play in the first meeting between the two teams, proved to be quite a difference maker in the rematch as he racked up 10 saves in one of his finer performances of the season. Unfortunately, Foxboro’s goalie was even better, stopping a number of point-blank opportunities while holding Canton to a single fourth-quarter goal.

It was a completely different story against Sharon, however, as the Bulldogs scored just five seconds into the game and never looked back, going up 8-1 at the half en route to an 11-3 victory.

The win proved to be a big one, for it not only gave Canton second place in the Davenport, but it also avenged an earlier loss against the Eagles this season.

Senior captain Matt Malloy led the way for the Bulldogs, finishing with two goals and two assists, including that all-important first score. Malloy was assisted on the play by junior Kurt Leavitt, who also finished with a goal in the win.

Other goal scorers included JC Marcone with three, Nick O’Connor and Pat Ward with two apiece, and freshman Brian Hagan with one.

Bendell also praised his defense, which turned in an outstanding performance behind Matt Bagley, Andrew Mansfield, Quinn Merrigan, Rich Nee, and Eric Wong.

The Bulldogs also played well in their loss to Milton later in the week, but Milton simply out-executed the visitors to nab a five-goal win. Bendell said his team struggled primarily with faceoffs, losing 20 of 28 overall.

Marcone led the team with four goals, while Malloy added two goals and two assists. Freshman Tommy Galvin also played an excellent game, finishing with two goals.

The Bulldogs were due to play Franklin in the Hockomock crossover on Monday before kicking off postseason play sometime next week.

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Posted by Jay Turner on May 24 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.