Field hockey rebounds with back-to-back W’s

After hitting a bit of a rough patch early in the season, the Canton High varsity field hockey team appears to be back on track following consecutive victories over Foxboro and Oliver Ames.

The Bulldogs, a perennial league powerhouse, are now even at 2-2-1 overall and are just a single standings point out of first place in a crowded Davenport Division.

Senior captain Lindsey Nolte (Mike Barucci photo)

Last week saw the girls lose a road match to King Philip 3-0 before bouncing back against Foxboro at home two days later by the same final score. Canton then followed up the Foxboro win with its best performance of the young season — a 4-2 road victory over Oliver Ames on Monday, September 21.

“We played phenomenal tonight,” said head coach Fior Griffin after beating OA. “We saw the level of play we expect from this group. Just the speed of play, the speed of our passing, our team defense — all of it was much improved.”

Senior captain Lindsey Nolte, who assisted on all three goals against Foxboro, turned in another outstanding performance and finished with a team-high two scores. Fellow senior captain Mary Nee assisted on one of Nolte’s goals and later added a beautiful goal off a penalty stroke, while junior Selena Cho scored her first of the season off a penalty corner.

The Bulldogs also got balanced scoring against Foxboro, as sophomore Andrea McNeil and seniors Annie Delello and Colleen Phelan each netted one goal in the win. Defensively, the squad looked much improved from the first few games, with senior captain Emily Rizzitano sliding to the back and making an immediate impact after starting the season in the midfield.

Griffin said she made the adjustment after experimenting with a new configuration and not seeing the results she had hoped for. And this was especially evident in the game against King Philip, in which breakdowns in the transition game led to three easy goals for the Warriors.

Griffin said it was not one player, but rather the “team defense as a whole that needed to be cleaned up.” She also seemed at least mildly concerned about the Bulldogs’ 0-2 start on grass fields thus far, especially with three more grass games still to go.

“We have really struggled with our adjustment to grass this season,” she said. “We need to figure out a way to transfer our skills to be successful, but I know we can do it.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to visit Milford this evening and will follow it up with three more games on the road next week: Norwood on Monday, Stoughton Tuesday, and Sharon Thursday. The girls’ next home game is set for Monday, October 5, against Attleboro.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Sep 25 2015. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.