Big week keeps Canton icemen in contention for Hockomock title

By Jay Turner

Already riding a three-game winning streak and still in contention for the Hockomock title, the CHS boys’ varsity hockey team stepped hard on the gas pedal last week with three more wins in six days, beating nonleague Pembroke, King Philip and Oliver Ames to improve to 12-2-1 overall (9-1-1 league).

The Bulldogs are now 6-0 since enduring a two-game hiccup a few weeks back, and they entered the week with a legitimate shot at another championship — assuming they were able to beat undefeated Franklin (12-0-0) in last night’s much hyped rematch at Canton Rink. (See next week for details.)

But win or lose, head coach Brian Shuman said he is still confident about his team’s chances come tournament time, especially after watching their poise under pressure in all three games last week — most notably against Pembroke on Monday, where they fought off a late surge by the visitors to preserve the 3-2 victory.

Going into the game, Shuman said his team had considered Pembroke to be “sort of an enigma” with a record that included just as many bad losses as big wins. But what they got on Monday was a very good hockey team that gave the Bulldogs “all they could handle,” according to Shuman.

Junior Greg Boyd, in just his second game back from injury, led the Bulldogs with two first-period goals, while fellow junior Kevin Rooney scored his league-leading 26^th of the season in the third period, assisted by Matt Buckley and Frank Eckler, to put Canton ahead for good.

The scoring then continued on Wednesday against KP as the Bulldogs routed the Warriors 5-1 on “Canton Youth Hockey Night.”

Despite the final score, Shuman said KP was “definitely a desperate team” who was fighting for its playoff life, and it showed early on when the Warriors came back to tie the game 1-1 in the first period.

Within seconds, however, the game swung back in Canton’s favor when Rooney stole the puck from a KP defender and took it in alone to make it 2-1. KP then continued to play with intensity, but Canton’s Pat Ward scored a big second period goal to put the game out of reach, while Rooney and Buckley piled on with two more goals in the third. Senior Kyle Leavitt also scored a goal in the win.

By far the biggest of the three wins came on Saturday at OA, where senior goaltender John Donaruma and the Bulldogs blanked the Tigers 2-0 in a clash of second place teams.

Shuman said Canton was clearly the better team in both the first and third periods, but he credited Donaruma for perhaps saving the game with his stellar goaltending in the second period.

“John was absolutely outstanding,” Shuman said afterward. “He was huge for us in that game.”

Senior Andrew Reardon also had a major contribution in the win, scoring his first career goal with eight minutes remaining in the first period to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. The Tigers played much better in the second period, but Canton was able to survive unscathed thanks to Donaruma.

Rooney then added an insurance goal in the third period off a faceoff, and Canton went on to win – giving the Bulldogs a “hat trick” of sorts for the week with three big wins.

The team hosts Mansfield on Saturday and then wraps up the season with another three-game week next week: nonleague games against Hanover Monday and North Quincy Wednesday, followed by a makeup game at North Attleboro Thursday.

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