Girls’ lax team prevails in postseason opener

By Jay Turner

Update: The CHS girls’ lacrosse team gave it their all but came up short against No. 1 Hopkinton, falling 16-8 in second round action on Wednesday, May 29. The Bulldogs finish the season at 10-8-2

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After storming into the postseason with three wins and a tie over its final four games, the CHS girls’ lacrosse team kept its season alive on Saturday with a hard-fought, 9-8 road win over No. 16 Archbishop Williams in the south sectional opener.

Junior Sam Sullivan (Mike Barucci photo)

It was the second time in as many seasons that the Bulldogs have made it out of the first round, and once again it earned them a date with the tournament’s top overall seed — Duxbury last year and now Hopkinton (13-4-1), with the game set for Tuesday, May 28, at Hopkinton High School. (See results next week.)

Despite the difference in seeding — Canton entered the tournament as the 17^th seed in the 22-team field — head coach Chris Murtagh seemed to like his team’s chances against Hopkinton, or any other team for that matter.

“We feel we can compete against anybody,” said Murtagh, whose resurgent squad has gone 5-1-1 since May 6.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs battled brutal weather conditions and questionable officiating yet still found a way to get it done against a strong Archies team.

“It was cold and wet, but the girls played fantastic,” said Murtagh, who had the unusual experience of playing against his daughter Grace, a sophomore on the Bishops. “It was a real exciting game and a big win for us.”

The veteran coach said his team’s aggressive style of lacrosse led to several unfavorable penalties, although Canton managed to hold onto its lead and generally outplayed the Bishops for long stretches of the game.

The Bulldogs got balanced scoring as four different players finished with two goals: Meghan Lennon, Meaghan McKenna, Jackie Merrigan, and Mary McNeil. Senior Kaitlin Phillips also scored a goal in the win, while the defense as a whole delivered another outstanding performance behind Amanda Crowley, Julia Mackie, and Christine Ward, who filled in admirably for an injured Becca Wysocki.

Goalie Isabelle Hegland also had an outstanding game in net, coming up with several big saves, including two early in the game that set the tone for the rest of the night, according to Murtagh.

“I think that really opened up their eyes that Isabelle came to play,” he said.

Overall, Murtagh said he was very pleased with the Bulldogs’ performance and happy to be advancing in the postseason for the second year in a row.

“It was a definitely a team victory,” he said. “The score was a lot closer than we really wanted, but we were happy to come out on the winning end of it.”

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