Girls soccer captures Davenport Division title

The CHS girls soccer team poses for a photo after last week’s win over Foxboro. (Photo courtesy of CHS Athletics)

There were lots of well-deserved cheers and congratulations when the Canton High girls soccer team came off the field after last Wednesday’s 3-2 home win against a formidable Foxboro squad. With the victory, the Bulldogs captured the Davenport Division title for the first time since 2012 and earned the division’s top seed in the Hockomock Cup crossover tournament, which began this week.

Canton (8-1-1) was due to open Wednesday night against the No. 4 seed in the Kelley-Rex Division, Attleboro (4-3-5), with the winner moving on to play either Mansfield or Oliver Ames on November 12 or 13. (Update: Canton will instead play Foxboro on November 19. See next week’s paper for more info.)

It took every ounce of strength and endurance for Canton to beat a talented Foxboro team, which had gotten the better of the Bulldogs 1-0 at Foxboro High earlier in the week and came into the rematch unbeaten at 7-0-2. Both teams featured some of the league’s top scorers, including Jordyn Collins and Kailee McCabe for Foxboro and Elisa Diletizia, Olivia Rodman and Gabriella Herivaux for the Bulldogs.

Wednesday’s game was a seesaw battle from start to finish with Canton outlasting the Warriors based on sound defense and outstanding offensive play by its top three scorers.

After the 1-0 loss to Foxboro earlier in the week, Senyonjo said he approached the three players and said he would need their A+ plus game and even more to help the team beat Foxboro. And all three came through in the clutch.

“I spoke to each one and I told them all the goals you scored so far will be irrelevant if we can’t get the result,” he said. “Every goal that you have scored has led you to this moment. This may be the last home game you play and why not finish with a championship.”

Canton twice took the lead only to see the lady Warriors tie the game. Canton looked tired at the end of the third quarter but Herivaux’s goal three minutes into the fourth quarter gave the lady Bulldogs spark and momentum for the rest of the game. Even Senyonjo acknowledged after the game that there was “nothing left in the tank.”

The first period ended scoreless and Rodman broke through with 8:29 left in the second period. Senior midfielder Mia Gilmore sent a pass to Rodman, who brought it down off her chest and quickly fired the shot into the goal. But 15 seconds later, the Warriors tied the score on a penalty shot.

In the third quarter, on a picture-perfect play, Rodman fed Diletizia, who dribbled past a defender and scored for a 2-1 lead with 11:33 remaining in the period. But Foxboro regained the momentum, scoring with 6:21 left in the quarter to tie the game at 2-2.

After the third period break, Senyonjo told his players to “throw everything at them.” Canton came out with some opportunities and finally capitalized when Herivaux took a rebound and managed to shoot while falling down with 17:22 remaining in the game. From then on, Canton played tight defense behind goalie Marissa Staffiere and kept the offensive pressure on with some good passing and pressure in the offensive zone.

Two days earlier, a shorthanded Foxboro team lost its starting goalie to a penalty but put its emphasis on team defense to thwart Canton and come away with a 1-0 win.

Foxboro dropped back into a defensive shell and just kept Canton to long-range chances.

Senyonjo made some adjustments in the rematch to free up his high scorers, most notably putting Diletizia in the midfield and sometimes inserting Annie Hoban as a forward. “I knew if we could up the energy, press the ball and play our game, the chances would come,” he said.

The defense also persevered behind the play of Ava Gilmore, Hoban, Amy Hylen and Allie McCabe, and in the fourth quarter, Staffiere made four key stops to preserve the Canton lead.

After the game, a relieved Senyonjo said, “It feels good. We beat a really good team.”

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 13 2020. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.