Boys’ hockey knocks off KP for 10th straight win

Teammates celebrate Pat Ward’s first-period goal against King Philip. (Mike Barucci photo)

Update: The Bulldogs defeated Mansfield 3-0 on the road Wednesday night, extending their winning streak to 11 straight games ~

The red-hot Canton High boys’ hockey team made it 10 in a row with a 5-2 win over King Philip Regional last Wednesday at home.

The Bulldogs, who were once a .500 team at 3-3, are now 13-3 overall and a perfect 9-0 in league play. They are currently first in the league in both goals scored and goals against, and they have been crushing teams as of late — outscoring their last six opponents by the combined total of 44-4.

A few of those teams occupy the basement of the Hockomock League standings, which is why head coach Brian Shuman was looking forward to playing a team like KP, which is 6-3 in the league and appears to be headed for a postseason berth.

Shuman therefore took it as an encouraging sign when the Bulldogs got off to a fast start, opening a three-goal lead behind a dominant performance from senior captain Pat Ward.

“Pat has been terrific as of late,” Shuman said of Ward, who scored twice in the first period and later added a pair of assists.

Freshman John Femia made it 3-0 at the midway point of the second period, and Canton appeared to be in complete control heading into the final frame.

Perhaps for that reason, the Bulldogs let their guard down, and KP took advantage at the start of the third, scoring less than two minutes into the period to make it a two-score game.

“We found ourselves on our heels for the first time in a few weeks,” noted Shuman. “I think it was actually good for us. We needed that type of wakeup call.”

Responding to the KP surge, the Bulldogs upped their own intensity and it paid off with a goal by senior captain Kurt Leavitt — a beautiful slap shot over the goalie’s shoulder that made it 4-1 with ten minutes remaining.

A few minutes later, KP snuck another one in to bring the deficit back down to two, but junior Brian Brooks put an end to the threat at the five-minute mark with his team-leading 17^th goal.

Brooks also had an assist in the game, and he currently leads the Hockomock League with 36 total points (17 goals, 19 assists). Standout junior defenseman Tony Francescon also had a strong performance, tallying two assists. Femia, JC Marcone, Ben Lodge, and Steve Mullaney each added one assist.

Having already locked up the Davenport Division title, the Bulldogs can now focus their attention on playing good hockey over the final four games in preparation for the upcoming Division 2 tournament. They had two games scheduled for this week — at Mansfield on Tuesday and home against Newburyport this Saturday — and will wrap things up next week at the Quinn Memorial Tournament, a two-day event hosted by Coyle Cassidy.

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