Field hockey still in contention after win, tie

After a rare loss to King Philip the week before, the Canton High field hockey team returned to action last week and produced two strong performances: a 2-2 tie against Mansfield and an easy 5-1 win over Milford.

Senior captain Meghan McKenna

While they would have liked to have won both contests, head coach Fior Griffin said she was pleased with the Bulldogs’ play against the Hornets — a “fast and skilled” opponent that likes to spread out the field.

Griffin said her squad was focused and ready for the challenge after several strong practices, and they showed grit and mental toughness in battling back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1.

Junior Alex Dillon’s goal at the 20-minute mark of the first half tied it at 1-1, and sophomore Mary McNeil duplicated the feat in the second half with a game-tying goal with just under four minutes left to play.

Griffin said the Bulldogs played better overall in the second half and had multiple chances to win it towards the end; they simply couldn’t come up with that one extra goal when it counted.

“We did some things well against a more skilled team, a faster team,” she said. “It’s just a matter of stringing together a better attack movement for 60 minutes and more complete team defense.”

Griffin did make a point to single out the play of her top forward line, featuring Dillon, McNeil, and Katie Kelleher, as all three have “really stepped it up the past couple of games,” she said.

The trio also played well on Thursday at Milford, where the Bulldogs made quick work of the Hockomock’s newest member behind goals by Dillon (2), Jackie Merrigan (2), and Zoe Rosenberg.

It was Canton’s second easy win against the Hawks this season, and Griffin took the opportunity to get many of her backup players some valuable game experience leading up to the postseason.

Currently, the Bulldogs sit in second place in the Davenport Division at 7-1-4, and they were due to host first-place Oliver Ames on Wednesday in a game that could very well decide the division championship. The team will also host Sharon on Friday and Foxboro next Tuesday before closing out the season with road games against Stoughton and Westwood.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 18 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.