Girls hockey tops Sandwich for 1st division win

Freshman Marissa Devane had 4 goals last week for the Bulldogs. (Mike Barucci photo)

Exactly one week after earning their first standings point in the vaunted SEMGHL Coastal Division with a 1-1 draw against Hingham, the Canton High girls ice hockey team achieved another milestone with its first division victory, beating a strong Sandwich team 3-1 at Metropolis Rink on Saturday.

The Sandwich win was actually one of three in a six-day stretch for the surging Lady Bulldogs, who also topped Quincy and Franklin to improve to 7-3-1 overall. Yet neither victory meant quite as much as the comeback effort against the Blue Knights — a team that owned Canton last year and made it all the way to the Division 2 state semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Westwood.

“We’ve only been in [the Coastal Division] for two years, and now we’ve actually broken the ice,” said head coach Dennis Aldrich on the significance of Saturday’s win. “We had already proved that we belong in there, but until you start recording points you still question it a little bit.”

Aldrich said the Sandwich game also highlighted the Bulldogs’ grit and determination, as they shook off a 1-0 deficit at the start of the third period — despite outshooting Sandwich 15-3 in the second frame — and exploded for three unanswered goals to complete the comeback.

“We’re a very hard forechecking group and a blue collar team,” said Aldrich, “and we make sure we don’t change what we do and just keep pounding away.”

Freshman sensation Mary Thompson got the scoring going for Canton with her team-leading ninth of the season. Then it was Mary McNeil’s turn, as the senior captain beat the goalie high short side on a perfectly executed power play sequence to put the hosts in the lead. A few minutes later, freshman Marissa Devane put home a rebound to help seal the win for the hosts.

All told, Canton put up 31 shots on net in the game while Sandwich mustered only 10. And the momentum seemed to carry over to Monday’s game in Franklin, where the Bulldogs once again dominated the shot totals en route to an easy 7-1 victory.

Devane registered her first career hat trick in the win while Thompson added two goals of her own. Senior captains Jackie Martin and Abbey Mitcheroney also had goals for the visitors, and McNeil and Kristen Eckler notched two assists apiece.

In the Quincy game last Wednesday, Canton took control early and never let up, winning 5-1 behind strong games from Sarah Wilkinson (2 goals), Kendra Farrelly (1 goal, 2 assists), Thompson (1 goal, 1 assist), and Rebecca Eckler (1 goal, 1 assist).

Lindsey Nolte drew the start in net against both Quincy and Franklin and stopped 21 of 23 shots, while freshman Colleen Kelleher saved nine of 10 in the win against Sandwich. Aldrich also praised the team’s blueliners, who kept the shot totals low with “swarming defense,” especially in the Franklin game.

Now with 15 standings points to their credit, the Bulldogs are just a few wins shy of a postseason berth with nine games left to play. However, they will still have to earn it with several challenging games ahead, including a rematch with Sandwich on Saturday and games next week against second-place Duxbury and first-place Barnstable.

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