Where Are They Now: Winter Recap

From dominant rookie performances to conference championships and even a national semifinals appearance, the recent winter sports season was certainly one to remember for Canton’s college athletes and their teams. And this was especially true on the ice and on the hardwood, where over a dozen hometown stars made their mark at colleges and universities across New England and beyond.

Olivia Murphy (beaconsathletics.com)

Among the most accomplished of that group was 2012 Canton High School graduate Olivia Murphy, who went from dominating the Hockomock League to lighting up the Little East Conference as a member of the UMass Boston women’s basketball team.

A former three-sport standout athlete at CHS, Murphy led the Beacons to a 14-12 record — second-best in program history — while also finishing first on the team in points (14.5 per game), rebounds (10.2) and blocks (1.8). She was the top rebounder in the conference and the only LEC player to average a double-double for the season. She also racked up numerous awards and honors, including LEC, ECAC Division III, and D3Hoops.com Northeast Rookie of the Year — a rare trifecta unmatched in UMass Boston history.

Coincidentally, one of Murphy’s opponents this season, UMass Dartmouth, featured two other Canton High alums in Colleen Moriarty and Erika Bornemann. And just like Murphy, both girls had outstanding seasons for the 20-8 Corsairs.

Moriarty, a senior captain, was named the Little East Player of the Year after posting conference-best averages of 19 points and two blocks per game. She also finished third in rebounds per game with 8.3 and became only the sixth player in school history to score 1,000 points for her career, finishing with a total of 1,174. She was named to the All-LEC first team, the ECAC All-Region team, and the New England Women’s Basketball Association All-Northeast second team.

Colleen Moriarty (corsairathletics.com)

Bornemann, meanwhile, posted similarly impressive numbers in her third season with the Corsairs. An All-LEC second team selection, she finished second on the team in points per game with 12.4 and first in rebounds with nine per game. She also averaged 1.8 blocks per contest and finished fifth in the LEC in threes per game (1.7) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (34.6).

Canton was also represented on the men’s side as junior Ryan Hayes suited up for the Stonehill College basketball team while freshman Joe McCabe carved out a role for the Framingham State Rams. A former league all star while at St. Sebastian’s, Hayes was a member of the 2010-11 Stonehill squad that went 25-6 and made it all the way to the Division II NCAA final four. McCabe, a former Hockomock all star, appeared in 22 games this season for FSU, averaging 3.9 points while racking up 37 rebounds and 14 three pointers.

Moving from the basketball court to the ice hockey rink, the Citizen found at least 14 Canton natives who laced up their skates for a collegiate program this winter, including Norwich University sophomore Gerard McEleney, who tallied six goals and four assists for a Cadets team that went 24-4-1 and reached the Division 3 national semifinals.

Also enjoying lots of success this season were Providence College teammates and cousins Chris and Kevin Rooney, who were part of a Friars team that came within a couple of victories of reaching the NCAA Division 1 men’s hockey tournament. Chris, a senior, recently signed a contract with the Wheeling Nailers — a minor league affiliate of the Pittsburg Penguins — after finishing his Providence career with 33 points, including 26 assists. His final assist was particularly memorable, as it came on freshman Kevin Rooney’s first career goal in the Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden. Kevin, who was a key cog on the Bulldogs’ 2010 state championship team, appeared in 29 games this season and finished with four points.

Bryan Rooney (stonehillskyhawks.com)

While the Rooney cousins were busy winning 17 games for the Friars, Kevin’s older brother, Bryan Rooney, was piling up goals for the Division 3 Stonehill Skyhawks. A former Hockomock League MVP like his little brother, Bryan finished second in the Northeast-10 Conference with 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) while collecting a pair of NE-10 Player of the Week honors.

Rooney was actually one of five Canton natives on the Skyhawks this season. Head coach Patrick Leahy also grew up in the town, as did teammates Kevin Aufiero, Sean McNeil, and Thomas Jenkins.

A former three-sport athlete at Xaverian, Aufiero turned in a strong sophomore season, finishing among the team leaders with 19 points (10 goals, 9 assists), including his first career hat trick. McNeil, a 2009 graduate of CHS, added two goals and four assists in his final season, while Jenkins, another Xaverian alum, chipped in a goal and an assist in 14 appearances.

Stonehill went 11-14 this season before bowing out in the NE-10 Conference semifinals against top-seeded St. Anselm, yet another team with a Canton connection. Sophomore defenseman Matt Buckley, a member of the 2010 Canton High state championship team, appeared in seven games this year for the Hawks, who went 16-8-3 and won their fourth straight conference title.

After knocking off Stonehill in the semis, St. Anselm went on to defeat second-seeded Franklin Pierce, which boasted a Canton player of its own in senior forward Dino Federico. A CHS graduate and former member of the Walpole Express, Federico tallied four goals and three assists in 24 games and finished his career with 35 points.

Other Canton natives who saw ice time at the collegiate level included Robbie Donahoe of Middlebury College and David Lazaro of Suffolk University. Donahoe, a junior defenseman, tallied six goals and 10 assists for the 13-11-2 Panthers, while Lazaro, a freshman, finished third on the Rams with 14 total points.

A handful of Canton women also skated for area schools this season, including Canton High record holder Brittany Lyons, who scored 16 goals while leading the Division 1 Quinnipiac Bobcats to a 20-12-4 record. A senior forward, Lyons finished her four-year career with 39 goals and 28 assists.

Also representing Canton were a pair of freshmen: Erin Martin of Amherst College and Sarah Quigley of Buffalo State. Martin, a graduate of Milton Academy, finished third on the Lord Jeffs with seven goals, and Quigley, a goaltender, collected 75 saves in nine games for the Bengals.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Apr 11 2013. Filed under Beyond CHS, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.