Boys soccer trounces Foxboro in reg. season finale
By Jay TurnerThe CHS boys soccer team closed out the 2020 regular season in convincing fashion last week, powering past division foe Foxboro 5-1 on the road in what head coach Danny Erickson said was their best performance of the season.
“It all came together,” remarked a thoroughly impressed Erickson. “Eighty great minutes of play — great effort and great soccer.”
With the win and an earlier scoreless draw against the Warriors, the Bulldogs created enough separation to claim sole possession of second place in the Davenport Division at 5-2-3, while Foxboro finished in third at 4-4-2. Both teams have qualified for the championship bracket of the Hockomock Cup — an eight-team crossover tournament featuring the top four teams from each division. The tournament was due to get underway this week with Canton, the Davenport No. 2 seed, opening Wednesday against King Philip Regional, the Kelley-Rex No. 3 seed.
The Bulldogs certainly looked the part of a postseason contender in their season finale rematch at Foxboro, where they dominated possession and set a new single-game season high with five goals. Junior Erik Valdovinos led the offensive explosion with a hat trick, while sophomore Jake McCabe netted the other two goals and hit the cross-bar on what Coach Erickson described as a “brilliantly struck” free-kick. Junior Jacob Crugnale was also active throughout the game and assisted on two of the goals, giving him a team-best seven on the season.
Crugnale also leads the squad in total points with eight while senior Colton Mirliani (5g), Valdovinos (3g, 2a) and McCabe (3g, 2a) are tied for second with five apiece. Other key offensive contributors include senior Abdul Barrie with three goals and one assist and junior Dylan Baird with two goals.
The Bulldog defense, meanwhile, has been excellent this season, allowing just eight total goals, five of which came in two games against undefeated Oliver Ames. In their other eight contests, the defense has allowed a miniscule average of .375 goals per game with five shutouts, led by goalie Giovanni Ruggeri and the back four of Will Keefe, Matt Giglio, Jorge Sanchez and Carson Eagles.
Canton’s opening round tournament opponent, the KP Warriors, have been similarly stingy this season with only nine goals allowed in 11 games. The two evenly matched opponents were scheduled to do battle yesterday afternoon at CHS with the winner advancing to play either Milford (Kelley-Rex No. 1) or Sharon (Davenport No. 4) in the semifinal round.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=71127
Posted by Jay Turner
on Nov 12 2020. Filed under High School, Sports.
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