Kozak’s big week helps put boys soccer back on track
By Jay Turner
Senior captain Damian Kozak had a monster week with back-to-back hat tricks. (Mike Barucci photo)
It was the Damian Kozak show for the CHS boys soccer team last week as the standout senior captain had back-to-back hat tricks to help lead the Bulldogs over Taunton and Norwood and closer to a south sectional playoff berth.
Kozak accounted for six of the team’s seven goals on the week and has moved atop the Hockomock League leader board with 20 total points (16 goals, 4 assists). Also stepping up for Canton was fellow senior captain Bart O’Brien, who tallied a pair of assists in both wins last week, and sophomore Sam Papakonstantino, who scored for the second time in as many weeks since being shifted to forward.
Canton’s two big wins — 4-2 at Taunton and 3-0 versus Norwood — snapped a three-game losing streak and brought the Bulldogs’ record to 6-4-2 overall with five games to play.
Head coach Danny Erickson, who was inducted into the Massachusetts Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame at halftime of the Norwood game, marveled at the team’s resiliency after hitting a mid-season rough patch.
“I can’t remember the last time that [Canton boys soccer] has lost three games in a row,” he said, “but this team came back and really stopped the bleeding this week and played some really good soccer.”
Erickson noted how the coaches turned to a more attacking style in the game against Norwood, and the boys responded with one of their finer performances of the season.
“I felt that we were relying on individual brilliance too much, and I tried to get a more balanced attack,” he said. “The irony is that Damian had all three goals, but they really did a much better job as a team attacking and creating chances.”
The Bulldogs are currently in the thick of the Davenport Division race and will play five straight division opponents to close out the regular season, beginning with a home game Wednesday against first-place Foxboro and a road game Friday at second-place Oliver Ames.
“The Davenport is as tight as it’s ever been,” noted Erickson. “We could finish first, but we could also lose to every single one of these teams, so we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us.”
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=27236
Posted by Jay Turner
on Oct 16 2014. Filed under High School, Sports.
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