Boys’ lax season ends after near upset of Weston

By Jay Turner

Seeded 27^th out of 30 teams and not given much of a chance in its opening round matchup against No. 6 Weston, the Canton High boys’ lacrosse team went out and nearly pulled off an improbable victory, falling 5-4 in a game that could have easily gone the other way.

Junior JC Marcone

For the Bulldogs, the loss was about as bittersweet as they come, especially coming against Weston — a team that had knocked Canton out of the playoffs last season en route to winning the Division 3 state title.

“We are still kind of stunned,” admitted head coach Bill Bendell a few days after the loss. “We had them on the ropes; we had all the momentum. We just couldn’t score when we needed to.”

Bendell said his team was well prepared going into the game, and it clearly showed in the opening minutes as the Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by junior midfielder Shane Nordgren, his first of the season.

The Wildcats went on to score the next two goals to take a 2-1 advantage, but Canton refused to back down and came back to tie the game at two all. Weston then scored the next two to make it 4-2, but the Bulldogs once again returned fire, scoring the next two goals to even the score at 4-4 with less than six minutes to play.

Bendell was particularly impressed with the goal by junior Pat Ward that cut the deficit to 4-3. Ward had gotten the ball on the wing and then made a beeline for the cage, shaking off multiple defenders and then rifling the ball past the keeper just as he was getting hit.

“It was just a tough, tough play,” said the Canton coach. “It was really an impressive goal.”

Also scoring goals for the Bulldogs were senior captain Matt Malloy and junior JC Marcone, both of whom finished with an assist as well.

On defense, the Bulldogs got an outstanding performance from junior captain Conor O’Brien, who had not played all season because of an injury and still shut down Weston’s best attackman. Juniors Matt Bagley and Andrew Mansfield also had impressive games for Canton, as did sophomore Quinn Merrigan.

Senior goalie Devin Costa also shined in the game, finishing with nine saves. Even the game winner, scored by a Weston defenseman at the three-minute mark, was an “unusual goal,” according to Bendell.

Unfortunately for Canton, the Weston goalie was simply unbeatable for most of the afternoon and especially down the stretch, when the Bulldogs “peppered him with shots.”

“It was like Tim Thomas when the Bruins had their run last year,” lamented Bendell. “It was that kind of performance.”

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