Hockey Roundup: Boys clinch division, girls eye playoffs

By Jay Turner

It was a perfect week on the scoreboard for the Bulldogs’ powerhouse hockey programs as both CHS varsity teams combined to go 4-0 against four tough opponents, all with winning records.

Junior Owen Lehane (Mike Barucci photo)

The girls team bounced back from a three-game winless stretch to notch impressive victories against Dedham and Norwood, while the boys team ran its season-long unbeaten streak to 12 straight with hard-fought wins over D1 foes Newburyport and Franklin. The boys also added another dramatic win this past Sunday over North Attleboro at the NE Sports Village, sewing up their ninth consecutive Hockomock Davenport Division title while improving their overall record to an eye-popping 13-0-0.

In what is shaping up to be a historic regular season and hopefully a sign of more to come, the Canton boys now own the best record in all of Massachusetts and are currently tops in a number of Division 2 polls. They also stack up favorably against D1 elite in several overall rating metrics and have garnered early consideration for the MIAA Super 8 Tournament — regarded as one of the premier high school hockey tournaments in the country.

While head coach Brian Shuman has cautioned against reading too much into the team’s hot start, noting that championships are not won in December or January, it’s been hard to argue with the results thus far, which have been nothing short of remarkable.

Despite playing with a massive bullseye on their back against an unforgiving slate of opponents, the Bulldogs continue to find ways to pull out victories — as evidenced by their recent late-game heroics in back-to-back 3-2 road wins over Franklin and NA.

In last Wednesday’s game against the Panthers, Canton fell behind 2-0 through two periods before storming back to stun their rivals with three unanswered goals in the third. Juniors Jack Connolly and Tommy Ghostlaw scored just minutes apart at the start of the frame to erase the Franklin lead and then classmate Johnny Hagan finished off the comeback with the game-winning score in the waning moments of the period.

In Sunday’s division battle against second-place North Attleboro, it was Owen Lehane’s turn to play the hero as the junior defenseman buried a slap shot with two minutes remaining to snap another 2-2 tie. This time, it was Canton that gave away a two-goal lead, but the Bulldogs managed to weather a late NA onslaught and preserve the tie long enough for Lehane to deliver the go-ahead goal. Senior Ryan Nolte also had a goal for the visitors and assisted on the other two to reach the 100-point milestone for his career. Junior Chris Lavoie added a goal as well while senior defenseman Matt Pigeon recorded an assist.

As for the lady Bulldogs, last week’s two victories brought the team to 7-3-4 on the season and has them knocking on the door of a postseason berth with seven games still to be played. The girls now need just three points to earn a trip back to the postseason and could clinch as soon as next Wednesday pending the outcome of Saturday’s home game against King Philip. The team is also still in the hunt for a second straight Hockomock title as they currently trail first-place Franklin by three standings points with a chance to get two points back in next week’s rematch at Pirelli Veterans Arena.

In their most recent win against the Norwood Mustangs, Lauren Fitzpatrick was sensational as she racked up four goals and one assist to lead the Bulldogs to a 6-0 shutout victory. The senior forward also marked an impressive milestone last week with a goal against Dedham — the 50th of her decorated career.

Other top performers in the two wins last week were senior Maggie Malloy, who combined for two goals and two assists, sophomore Lizzie Tassinari (1 goal, 1 assist), and senior Leah Chamberlain, who had two assists and played shutdown defense against Norwood to earn her the team’s Bulldog Joe award. Tess Khoury and Theresa O’Brien rounded out the scoring for Canton with a goal apiece against Dedham.

While the lady Bulldogs have been up and down at times through the first month and a half of the season, they remain firmly in contention and still have their sights set on a return trip to the Garden for a third consecutive winter. They have outscored opponents by a margin of 54-28 with their only losses coming against three elite teams in Franklin, Westwood and Duxbury — who entered play this week with a combined record of 33-2-5.

While the girls prepare to take on Hockomock foes King Philip and Franklin, the boys will welcome a pair of nonleague teams to the Ice House over the next week with Bishop Feehan visiting on Saturday and Smithfield High School (RI) coming to town on Wednesday, February 6.

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