Icemen topple NQ for season’s first win

After struggling to find any rhythm in its season-opening loss to Lincoln-Sudbury last week, the Canton High boys’ ice hockey team responded with a hard-fought, 2-0 road victory over familiar foe North Quincy to improve to 1-1 overall.

For head coach Brian Shuman, it was exactly the type of “statement win” that he was hoping to see from his squad, especially after last Wednesday’s lackluster performance against Lincoln-Sudbury in which the Bulldogs looked a step slow all game long.

Saturday’s performance, by contrast, was full of “passion and intensity” from start to finish, according to Shuman.

“It was like night and day, it really was,” he said of the team’s first two games. “It was good to see our guys step up and grind out a victory.”

Last season, a surging North Quincy team ended Canton’s season in a shootout in the south sectional quarterfinals, and this year’s Raider team is believed to be even better, as evidenced by their No. 4 ranking in the Boston Herald’s Division 2 “Super Eight” poll.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have been largely overlooked coming into the season. But they let their play do the talking on Saturday and ultimately came out on top, bolstered by the stellar play of goaltender Rich Nee, who finished with 24 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.

Both teams had several power play opportunities through the first two periods, but the game remained scoreless until late in the second frame, when senior defenseman Kurt Leavitt fired a wrist shot between the opposing goalie’s legs to make it 1-0 in favor of Canton. Assisting on the goal were seniors JC Marcone and Justin Rudy.

North Quincy continued to battle and had several chances to even the score, but the Bulldog defense proved up to the task while Nee made a number of nice saves to help preserve the lead. Canton would later seal the win at the four minute mark of the third on a goal by freshman John Femia, assisted by junior Brian Brooks.

After the game, Shuman said his team won by out-hustling the Red Raiders and winning the battles for the loose pucks — which is precisely what they failed to do against Lincoln-Sudbury in the opener just a few days earlier.

“We lacked a sense of urgency,” said Shuman following the 5-1 defeat. “Lincoln-Sudbury had a lot more energy the entire game. They were just outworking us, to put it simply.”

Shuman said the Bulldogs were fortunate to be down just 2-1 at the end of the first period, thanks to a late goal by senior captain Pat Ward. However, L-S responded with their third goal halfway through the second period, and just when Canton started to build some momentum, the hosts stole it right back with a pair of third-period goals to put the game out of reach.

Reflecting on the loss afterward, Shuman noted how the players were just as disappointed, if not more so, than the coaches were in their performance. “I think this was a game in which we beat ourselves,” he concluded.

This week, the Bulldogs were due to face two more tough matchups, including a road game Wednesday against rival Franklin — the reining Division 2 south champions — and a home game Saturday against D2 south runner-up Mansfield. The game against the Hornets will double as a charity event for breast cancer awareness, called “Pink out the Rink.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Dec 20 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.