No. 21 CHS boys soccer crashes D2 final four

The Bulldogs are a team on a mission heading into their first-ever state title game on Saturday. (Mike Tureski photo)

For just the second time in the storied history of the CHS boys soccer program, the Bulldogs have battled their way to a state semifinal — and the circumstances surrounding this one just might make it even more special than the last go-round a decade earlier.

Win or lose Wednesday night (results were not available as of press time), this Canton squad has already earned the distinction of being the lowest seeded team, among all fall sports and across all divisions, to punch its ticket to an MIAA final four. Whereas a number of the brackets — including three of the four field hockey divisions — went all chalk with nos. 1-4 all advancing, in D2 boys soccer, No. 21 Canton is joined by three western Mass. powers: No. 1 East Longmeadow, No. 6 West Springfield and No. 7 Longmeadow.

It’s a “cool, fun fact” to be sure, yet there’s been nothing fluky about this team’s run, according to head coach Danny Erickson.

“It’s true that we’re the worst seed left,” Erickson said on the eve of playing top-ranked East Longmeadow. “But you don’t end up in the final four without going up against and beating some really high-caliber opponents.”

In Canton’s case, that list includes a very dangerous Woburn team (#12), a highly touted Agawam squad (#5), and a similarly seeded upstart in Amherst-Pelham (#20). The Bulldogs defeated all three by a combined margin of 8-1 — all on the road within a span of seven days. Two of those schools also happen to be located in western Mass., meaning that Canton has had to travel upwards of 500 miles to log those three wins.

In terms of common denominators, Erickson said there is no “secret sauce” that he could point to in order to better quantify the team’s postseason brilliance; however, he said a key turning point came early in the Woburn game after a lengthy injury stoppage. The Bulls would go on to score right after play resumed, yet Canton didn’t wilt. Instead, they bore down, weathering multiple Woburn onslaughts while tallying three unanswered goals to run away with the victory.

Four days later, the Bulldogs went out to Agawam and completely outclassed a 16-3-0 Brownies team behind Jacob Crugnale’s hat trick. That was followed by another journey out to Amherst, where they out-dueled the Hurricanes in a low-scoring, back-and-forth battle, aided by Jake McCabe’s brilliant second-half strike.

Erickson said what is so remarkable about the three victories is that each one featured a different attacking player “stepping up and getting it done” on the big stage, starting with Erik Valdovinos’ big night against Woburn (2g, 1a) and continuing with Crugnale’s and McCabe’s heroics on the two western road trips.

“I think it’s a really cool story,” said Erickson. “What probably explains some of our success is it’s not real easy to shut down three different guys.”

And it’s not just the offensive stars, but the entire team that’s been playing with remarkable poise and precision. “I just think we’re really well balanced,” said Erickson. “How we play on the defensive side of the ball has just gotten better and better and better all year. We have a very, very steady goalkeeper with a high soccer IQ in Giovanni Ruggeri; we’ve got some really committed backs; and our midfielders just do a tremendous job playing on both sides of the ball.”

Erickson said junior Ashton Cetoute, the team’s starting center back, has been “absolutely brilliant” throughout the postseason run and is arguably the biggest difference maker of the tournament run thus far. Jay Kelleher and Zach Dowling have also been very strong in the back, and the midfield corps of Dylan Baird, Caden Mirliani, Brian Shea, Carson Eagles and Charlie McKinney have been equally critical to the team’s success.

As for last night’s showdown with top-ranked East Longmeadow, Erickson said it was going to be a tall order to slay that particular giant, noting that they are an even more balanced version of the Bulldogs. Still, he said, they went into it “absolutely” believing they could win this game if they play to their potential.

“I know it’s cliché sounding, but I really think our guys have done a good job of taking it one game and one practice at a time,” said Erickson. “I don’t think they’re distracted by playing in a state final; they’re distracted by the fact that we’ve got a very good opponent and we’ve got to play our best to get the result that we want.”

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