Girls soccer earns 10th straight trip to MIAA tourney

By Mike Berger

Update: The 17th seeded lady Bulldogs fell 5-3 on Friday night to No. 16 Silver Lake Regional in the preliminary round of the Division 2 south sectional tournament. Canton finishes the season at 8-9-2 overall.

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For the 10th consecutive season, the Canton High girls soccer team is headed back to the Division 2 south playoffs, clinching a spot last week with a 3-0 road win over Milford. The team now awaits seeding and matchup information with tournament games expected to get underway sometime this weekend.

Junior Lauren McCabe (Mike Barucci photo)

Just 2-4-1 after the first two weeks of the season, the lady Bulldogs battled back into the playoff picture with a strong month of October, going 6-2-1 before dropping their final two games to finish at .500 for the season (8-8-2).

Both of their recent losses came against elite opponents: Davenport Division champion Foxboro (14-1-3) and unbeaten Concord-Carlisle (14-0-3).

In the Foxboro game on Sunday night, the Warriors scored three first-half breakaway goals en route to a convincing 5-1 victory. Elisa Diletizia had the lone goal for Canton with an assist from Mia Gilmore.

The margin of defeat could have been even higher had it not been for the play of Canton goalie Briana Murphy, who stopped 18 shots on net, many of the head-on variety where she had to react instantly. The Warriors had several fast players who used their speed to set up their offense.

Assistant head coach Sarah Handman said the Bulldogs could see Foxboro again in the playoffs, and they already proved they could compete with the Warriors after battling them to a 2-2 draw on the road earlier this season.

“We were not connecting on both sides of the ball and didn’t do well in the 50-50 balls,” Handman said of Sunday’s rematch. “But we feel we can play much better if we have to play them again.”

Playing well on defense for Canton were Leianna Brune, Alexa Maffeo and Allie McCabe. The Bulldogs also had their chances on offense, combining for 12 shots behind the strong play of Morgan McCabe, Anne Hoban and Diletizia.

Earlier in the week, Canton forged a 1-1 tie with second-place North Attleboro (12-2-4), with Diletizia scoring Canton’s goal with an assist from McCabe.

The Bulldogs’ entry into the playoffs was secured with a 3-0 away win at Milford last Thursday. Julia Hamilton had an exceptional game with two goals and an assist while Diletizia added a goal and an assist. Sarah Collins was also credited with an assist.

In other team news, sophomore forward Olivia Rodman continues her recovery from an ankle injury and is to be back in the lineup soon.

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