Canton girls take title, boys 3rd at Ice House Invitational

Junior Maggie Malloy scores the game-winning goal vs. Milton (Mike Barucci photo)

The Canton Ice House was buzzing with activity in the final week of 2017 as both CHS varsity hockey teams served as hosts for the inaugural Ice House Invitational. On the girls’ side, the lady Bulldogs remained unbeaten on the season and finished as the tournament champions with a thrilling, 3-2 overtime win over Milton. The boys, meanwhile, fell just short against Needham in the tournament opener, but they bounced back on Saturday to take third place with a 5-2 win over Pembroke in the consolation game.

For both Canton teams, one of their two tournament games counted as a tie in the standings as there are no overtimes during the regular season under MIAA rules. Overtimes can be played to determine a tournament result, however, and the Canton girls used the opportunity to sneak past the Milton Wildcats and secure the Pat Walsh Cup, which is named in honor of the late Canton Youth Hockey coach and board member.

Junior forward Maggie Malloy buried the game winner for Canton in the overtime period, beating the entire Milton defense and finishing the shot unassisted. Malloy, who also scored in the girls’ 2-1 win over Westwood last Thursday, was honored after the game as the MVP of the tournament.

At two different points in the Milton game, the lady Bulldogs found themselves down by a goal, but they responded both times with game-tying goals by freshman Maria Femia and junior Leah McClellan. McClellan also had one of the team’s three assists with Ellie Rae Roberts and Katie Halloran recording the other two.

On the boys’ side, senior goalie Quinn Gibbs continued his sensational start to the season with another brilliant performance against Needham, but the Bulldogs’ season-long struggle to finish their chances again reared its head as they were blanked by the Rockets in an eventual 1-0 overtime defeat. (The game was recorded as a 0-0 tie in the standings and Gibbs was still credited with the shutout.)

In the consolation game against the Pembroke Titans, Canton finally broke out of its offensive funk with a season-high five goals — more than doubling its scoring output for the entire season.

Senior forward Jack Goyetch led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another with a perfectly timed pass to linemate Bubba McNeice.

Head coach Brian Shuman said Goyetch has been a revelation so far this season and has been one of the team’s real bright spots along with Gibbs. “Jack has been fantastic for us,” said Shuman. “He’s the hardest worker that we have. He’s scored three out of our nine goals and they’re all well deserved. He gets in front of the net and gets his nose dirty, and he does what we need to do collectively as a team to get off the snide.”

Sophomore Chris Lavoie scored his first varsity goal in the win while junior Ryan Nolte helped give the Bulldogs a cushion with a third-period goal off a pass from Joe Robinson. Junior goalie Michael Staffiere got the start in net against Pembroke and made some strong saves en route to his first victory.

With the win and the tie last week, the Bulldogs improved to 2-1-3 overall and have survived what is likely the toughest stretch of their schedule with only one loss.

The lady Bulldogs, meanwhile, head into action this week at 3-0-2 as they begin a stretch of three straight Hockomock League contests against Franklin, Mansfield/Oliver Ames, and Stoughton. The boys team was also set to kick off the league portion of its schedule starting with a game last night versus Oliver Ames followed by an away game this Saturday against King Philip.

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