Boys’ soccer sweeps Sharon, nearly topples OA

By Jay Turner

After a heartbreaking loss last Wednesday to first-place Oliver Ames, the Canton High boys’ varsity soccer team was able to rebound on Friday with a 1-0 road victory over Sharon, improving to 7-6-2 heading into the final week of the regular season.

Junior Eric Wong (Mike Barucci photo)

It was the Bulldogs’ second win in as many tries against their Davenport Division rivals, and like their first meeting it was decided by a single goal — this time by senior captain Matt Lennon in the final minute of regulation on a spectacular individual effort.

“It was just a classic case of two teams that didn’t play too well, and yet with one minute left [Lennon] decided to win the game,” said head coach Danny Erickson, whose squad is headed back to the postseason for the seventh consecutive year.

Erickson said the poor field conditions on Friday likely contributed to the overall sloppy play, but he was pleased with the Bulldogs’ effort against a bigger, more physical Sharon lineup.

The Eagles did manage to outplay their visitors throughout most of the first half, but they ended up with nothing to show for it, thanks in large part to junior goalkeeper Art McNally, who notched his third shutout of the season. Senior Kyle Hanscom also had a strong performance for the Bulldogs, who moved to within one point of Sharon for third place in the Davenport Division.

Of course, Canton could have leapfrogged the Eagles had they gotten a bit more luck against division leader OA on Wednesday. Instead, they had to settle for a hard-fought 2-1 defeat after a questionable call gifted the Tigers a penalty kick in the final minute of the game.

It was a tough break, according to Erickson, and it spoiled an otherwise outstanding game by the Bulldogs that was made all the more impressive by the fact that they were without their leading scorer, senior captain Michael Denehy, who had suffered an injury the day before in practice.

“To go into a game like that without [Denehy] was certainly a challenge,” said Erickson. “OA gives up very few goals as it is, so we had a pretty big hill to climb.”

The Bulldogs decided to focus on defense to start the game, and it worked to perfection as the two squads went into halftime locked in a scoreless tie. A Tiger goal early in the second half made it 1-0 in favor of OA, but junior Sam Larson responded with an outstanding goal midway through the frame to even the score at 1-1.

“It was just an awesome finish,” Erickson said of Larson’s game-tying goal. “It was a beautiful goal, one of the best I’ve seen this year.”

Both sides continued to battle down the stretch, and the score was still knotted at a goal apiece going into the 60^th minute when Canton was called for a tripping penalty that ultimately sealed the win for the Tigers.

Despite the tough loss, Erickson could not have been prouder of his team’s performance, especially on the road against an opponent such as OA.

“It was my favorite effort that the boys have put in all year,” he said, “and it was just heartbreaking not to get something out of it.”

The Bulldogs will now look to finish strong as they close out the regular season this week with games against Foxboro on Tuesday and Stoughton tomorrow night on the CHS turf field.

Share This Post

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=16965