CHS boys lax loses nail-biter in D2 south playoffs

By Jay Turner

For the second year in a row, the Canton High boys lacrosse team drew a tough opponent from Cape Cod in the opening round of the south sectional playoffs and came up just a few goals short of advancing.

Last year it was third-seeded Dennis-Yarmouth who knocked off the Bulldogs by a final score of 5-4, and this time it was fellow Atlantic Coast team Sandwich — also a No. 3 seed — who dashed Canton’s hopes with a 10-9 victory on their home turf on Wednesday.

Junior Ryan Lodge (Mike Barucci photo)

“It really was an evenly matched game and I think if we played six times it would be 3-3,” lamented veteran head coach Bill Bendell afterwards. “But I give [Sandwich] credit. We knew they were going to be good and they were, and they beat us.”

Bendell said his team’s Achilles heel was an inability to win faceoffs consistently, and it manifested itself in the opening quarter as Sandwich dominated possessions and raced out to a 4-1 lead.

Rather than call it quits, however, Canton kept fighting and eventually broke through in the second, scoring six of the game’s next seven goals to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

“I think our guys decided, ‘Hey, we’re not going out like this,’” said Bendell. “So we just ignored the scoreboard, focused on just one play at a time and tried to get back in the game.”

In keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the game, it was Sandwich who came out firing in the third quarter, scoring four unanswered goals to regain the lead at 9-7. But again the Bulldogs answered, burying two in a row to knot the game at 9-all.

Sandwich would go on to score the eventual game winner with three minutes to go in the fourth, but Canton continued to battle right up until the final whistle sounded.

“We had a ton of [scoring] opportunities late in the game,” said Bendell. “Man up, 5-on-5 with the ball — for the last three minutes we had the ball. We just couldn’t score.”

Despite the way it ended, Bendell thought his team showed both heart and grit in battling back from an early deficit, and he was pleased with their effort from start to finish. He was particularly impressed with the play of senior defenseman Jake Ragusa, who held Sandwich’s all-time scoring leader, Jameson Buttafuoco, to a measly two assists.

“[Ragusa] owned him the whole game,” said the Canton coach. “And that’s the thing about Jake — when the lights come on, he has no fear; he relishes that role.”

Ragusa also scored his first career goal in the game, punctuating a truly remarkable performance for the senior, who was this year’s Hockomock Davenport football MVP.

Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by junior midfielder Shaun Kirby, who tallied a team-high three goals and finished with 27 for the season. Junior Ryan Lodge finished with two goals in the loss, while Griffin Roache, Eddie McCabe, and Ben O’Neill added one apiece.

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