Girls soccer eyes playoff berth, boys still battling

By Jay Turner

Update: With a 3-1 win at North Attleboro on Thursday, the Canton High girls soccer team has officially punched its ticket to the postseason. The 9-8 lady Bulldogs will close out the regular season with a home game Monday night against Milford.

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With back-to-back shutout victories in their past two games, the CHS girls varsity soccer team has clawed its way back into postseason contention heading into the final week of the regular season.

Junior Elisa Diletizia scored a hat trick Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium. (D’jani Silva photo)

Now at 8-8 overall, the lady Bulldogs need to win one of their last two contests to ensure a spot in the MIAA playoffs — either Thursday at North Attleboro (4-7-3) or Monday at home versus Milford (7-4-3).

Going into last week’s road game at Stoughton, the girls had lost three straight and had fallen to 6-8. But they bounced back with a 3-0 win against the Knights and then followed it up with a 4-0 blanking of Sharon Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium.

While the Eagles were winless going into the game, they controlled play for a good portion of the opening half before the Bulldogs seized control, powered by Elisa Diletizia’s second-half hat trick. In their earlier win against Stoughton, Olivia Rodman led the way with a pair of goals while Mia Gilmore had two assists.

Gilmore now leads the team in total points with 14 (5g, 9a) while Diletizia has the edge in goals with nine. Rodman is next with eight goals followed by Gabby Herivaux with seven.

As for the boys team, goal scoring is the one area that they have consistently struggled with, although they have made strides as of late. Last week, the Bulldogs recorded their first three-goal performance of the season as freshmen Jake McCabe and Caden Mirliani both netted their first career goals while senior Colby Ciffolillo added another to lead the team over Stoughton 3-1 at home.

While the offense was a lot harder to come by in their next game at Oliver Ames, the Bulldogs still impressed against one of the top teams in the league, holding the Tigers scoreless until midway through the second half. Meanwhile, it was a similar story in Tuesday night’s battle at Gillette, where Canton kept a strong Sharon team in check for the bulk of regulation before a pair of late Eagle goals spoiled the upset bid.

While it’s certainly been a trying season, head coach Danny Erickson continues to be impressed with the effort put in by his young squad and he’s been encouraged by the improvement shown over the past handful of games in particular. Notable bright spots include Jacob Crugnale and Jake McCabe on the attacking end and Will Keefe, who has been a steady force in the back throughout the season.

Currently at 3-10-2, the Bulldogs will wrap up their season with three games over the next two weeks, starting Thursday night at home versus North Attleboro. Besides being a division battle, the game doubled as a fundraiser in support of CHS soccer alum Mike Dobbyn. Dobbyn’s 11-year-old son Connor was recently diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare and incurable genetic disorder, and all proceeds from the game will go toward the Connor Beats Sanfilippo campaign. Learn more about Connor’s story at www.thecantoncitizen.com/2019/10/04/dobbyn-sanfilippo.

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