CHS hockey teams open playoffs with high hopes

By Jay Turner

Update: The CHS boys team defeated Taunton 4-0 in the Division 2 south sectional opener. Both Canton teams will play on Saturday at the Canton Ice House.

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The Ice House will be rocking this week as both CHS hockey teams are set to open on home ice in their respective MIAA postseason tournaments.

Senior Chris Lavoie (Cynthia Rosina photo)

The top-seeded boys team, already back to their winning ways after a rare loss to D2 north power Lincoln-Sudbury, were awarded a preliminary round bye in the D2 south with their first game scheduled for last night against Hockomock foe Taunton (10-9-3). Earlier this week, the 17th seeded Tigers knocked off No. 16 North Attleboro, another Hockomock opponent, 2-1 to advance to the next round. It would take a miracle, however, for Taunton to skate past the defending champion Bulldogs, who have lost just once in their last 47 games and demolished the Tigers 8-0 in their lone regular season meeting back on February 1.

Barring a historic upset, the Bulldogs would next move on to face ninth-seeded Medfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a rematch of last week’s regular season finale at Pirelli Arena. In that game, Canton won convincingly 5-2 behind red hot senior forward Chris Lavoie, who added to his league-leading total with a pair of goals — giving him five in the Bulldogs’ last two games and 23 on the season. Linemate Johnny Hagan, the Hockomock points leader (37) and recently crowned league MVP, recorded an assist on one of Lavoie’s goals while Shane Marshall, Timmy Kelleher and Tommy Vaughan added one goal apiece.

Besides being back in the win column, the Bulldogs are also getting healthy as they recently held a practice with their full rostered lineup for the first time all season. Senior forward Tommy Ghostlaw, who missed two months with a leg injury, has been plugged back into the lineup while sophomore forward Eamon Kelly (5g, 5a) was expected to give it a go against Taunton after working his way back from a nagging shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, over in the Division 2 girls tournament, the sky appears to be the limit for the third-seeded lady Bulldogs, who are due to open play on Saturday night at home against 14th seeded Norwood.

The Canton girls, like their male counterparts, only have one loss on the season to date — a 4-1 defeat against No. 9 Westwood (Canton also beat the Wolverines in an earlier matchup).

Powered by freshman phenom Olivia Maffeo and a dominant defensive corps that also includes seniors Alexa Maffeo and Meg Aldrich and sophomore Allie McCabe, the lady Bulldogs are currently in the midst of a 10-game unbeaten streak in which they have outscored the opposition 32-5. Freshman goalie Carolyn Durand has also been sensational during this stretch and has not allowed a goal in her past seven starts. Durand now has a microscopic goals against average of 0.714, which head coach Dennis Aldrich said is a credit to both the netminder and to goalie coach Jack Koen. “The work that he’s done with her is just remarkable,” Aldrich said.

Looking at the tournament field, Aldrich said defending champion Wellesley is the clear favorite but he firmly believes that the Bulldogs have the talent and the poise to skate with anyone. They are plenty battled tested, having faced off against a number of Division 1 tournament teams, including most recently in a scrimmage against No. 8 Boston Latin (13-3-4).

In other team news, Aldrich was proud to report that they were named the recipient of the Hockomock Sportsmanship Award as voted on by the league’s coaches.

“I’m very proud of our kids and how they handle themselves,” he said. “To be recognized by teams that you’ve beaten as having good sportsmanship is beyond rare nowadays. I’m so, so proud of them, and every kid on our roster has a piece of that award.”

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