CHS girls hockey on a roll entering D2 state tournament

Senior captains Carolyn Durand and Maya Battista have their sights set on the Boston Garden. (Mike Tureski photo)

Update: The CHS girls ice hockey team is headed to the Division 2 Elite Eight after knocking off Westwood and Milton in recent state tournament action. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will face the winner of No. 5 Algonquin and No. 12 Dedham on March 9 at the Canton Ice House.

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The Canton High girls ice hockey team managed to jump one more spot to No. 4 overall in the final state power rankings, but arguably no team is hotter — or more battle-tested — going into the Division 2 playoffs this year than the lady Bulldogs.

Against an absolutely brutal stretch of top-ranked opponents over the final few weeks of the regular season, the Canton girls managed to make it through unbeaten, going 5-0-2 during the month of February. Along the way, they out-dueled Archbishop Williams, the top overall seed in Division 2, and exacted a measure of revenge against No. 5 Algonquin Regional, the team that broke their hearts in last year’s state final. They also had a pair of 1-1 draws against No. 2 Duxbury and No. 6 Sandwich, and they added three more wins against fellow D2 playoff teams King Philip, Norwood and Natick.

All told, the Bulldogs closed out the regular season on a 13-game winning streak (9-0-4), and they were the odds-on favorites to make it 14 in a row heading into last night’s playoff opener against the 29th ranked Westwood Wolverines.

“Especially this time of year, confidence is everything,” noted first-year head coach Nikki Petrich. “So going into the season, we purposely set up the schedule this way so they could build that confidence and really believe in themselves. Now they know they cannot just compete against these top teams; they can win the game. And that goes a long, long way with a group of young females.”

Of course it also helps quite a bit to have a goalie like senior Carolyn Durand, who, in Petrich’s view, is the clear-cut MVP of the Hockomock League and one of the best at her position in the state.

“She’s just phenomenal,” said the Canton coach. “She is a big reason that we have so much confidence whenever we step on the ice and why we’re able to stay in so many of these games.”

The defensemen in front of her have also risen to the occasion, teaming with Durand to allow an average of just one goal per game. Maya Battista and Devan Spinale anchor the group, with Tori Carr further solidifying her role with a stellar second half and Kayleigh Koen and Georgia Campbell contributing heavy minutes as freshmen.

Offensively, the Bulldogs have been solid (59 goals) yet noticeably top-heavy, with most of the production coming from the star-studded top line of Audrey Koen, Ellie Bohane and Izzy Cusack. Koen has been especially clutch as a scorer this year, delivering countless big goals, including the game-winner versus Archies three weeks ago and the tying score against Duxbury off a perfect pass from Cusack. Bohane has also had her share of big moments, including a late game-winner against Norwood, while Cusack continues to dazzle as both a playmaker and a scorer, most recently in a four-point outing versus Natick (3g, 1a).

Also chipping in at points this season offensively are Anna Lehan, Kayleigh Koen, Abby Stock, and Abby Brogan, although Petrich would still like to see some more production from other parts of the roster.

“It’s almost like our bike is wobbly but we know how to ride it,” she said. “We need to play smarter and avoid the self-inflicted mistakes. But we’re working on it and I think we can get there.”

With a win against Westwood, the Bulldogs would advance to face either No. 13 Milton or No. 20 Framingham in the Division 2 Sweet 16.

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