Boys’ soccer clinches 8th straight tourney berth

By Jay Turner

For the eighth consecutive season and the 16^th time in the last 18 years, the CHS boys’ soccer team is headed back to the postseason after knocking off Foxboro 3-1 at home last week.

Junior Bart O’Brien (Mike Barucci photo)

The victory was Canton’s seventh at Memorial Field this season as the Bulldogs went unbeaten at home with a record of 7-0-2. Their road record, on the other hand, was a disappointing 1-6-1 going into the week, although they managed to add one more win — a 2-0 decision over Stoughton in last Friday’s season finale.

Put it all together and the team produced a very solid season at 9-6-3, which was ultimately good for second place in the Davenport Division behind only undefeated Oliver Ames.

“I’m very proud of the effort [last] week,” said head coach Danny Erickson. “The team has really come together and has grown quite a bit over the course of this year.”

In last Tuesday’s clinching win over Foxboro, the Bulldogs played the kind of soccer that wins tournament games, dominating possession while taking advantage of key scoring opportunities.

Most of those came in the second half, as Canton turned a scoreless tie into a quick 2-0 advantage behind goals from Eric Wong and Andre Dorofeev. Wong’s goal came just two minutes into the half off a pass from Bart O’Brien, while Dorofeev struck just minutes later, hitting a rocket of a shot past the Warrior keeper for his first goal of the season.

Foxboro did manage to get one back later in the half off a corner kick, but O’Brien responded a few minutes later with a beautiful shot to the upper near post that sealed the victory for the Bulldogs.

The team then continued its pattern of strong second halves at Stoughton three days later, as the Bulldogs netted both of their goals over the final 10 minutes of the contest. Junior captain Damian Kozak struck first, beating the Black Knight goalie with a shot to the far post. Seven minutes later, Liam Collins picked up an insurance goal off a corner kick from O’Brien, who finished with a pair of assists.

Meanwhile, the stout Canton defense turned in yet another excellent performance behind the top unit of Sam Larson, Danny Klein, and Georgio Papakonstantino. Senior goalie Art McNally was also impressive in the win en route to his eighth shutout of the season.

“I’m very proud of this team and how they finished,” said Erickson. “I didn’t think it was a guarantee that we would make the tournament, but they’ve really come a long way. Their attitude has been great, and we’re all super excited to get going in the state tournament.”

Seeding and matchups for the Division 2 south sectional tournament were due to be announced on Wednesday, with the first games set to kick off on Friday or Saturday.

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