Icemen knock off Norwell, NA in busy week

After a nine-day layoff due to the recent holiday vacation, the CHS boys’ hockey team returned to the ice and had its most productive week to date, earning wins over nonleague Norwell and a much improved North Attleboro squad while also playing well in a 1-0 road loss to Oliver Ames.

Senior captain Kurt Leavitt

The 2-1 stretch brought the Bulldogs’ overall record to 4-3, although head coach Brian Shuman believes his team is better than its record suggests.

“We’re playing pretty well right now,” he said. “We can definitely get better in lot of areas, particularly with some more consistency in our goal scoring, but I really like how our team is playing, and I don’t think our record is indicative of how well we’re playing.”

To illustrate his point, Shuman referenced last Wednesday’s game against OA, in which the Bulldogs carried the play for long stretches but could not buy a goal against star goalie Jimmy Tierney, who finished with 41 saves.

The Tigers, a trendy pick to win the Division 2 south this year, were 4-0-1 going into the game and also had home-ice advantage, yet the Bulldogs were every bit their equal and generated countless quality scoring chances. Canton also got another strong performance from goalie Rich Nee, who finished with 25 saves.

“It was still a great game [despite the loss],” said Shuman. “Those were two teams that are very equal in talent, and it just came down to one or two plays we couldn’t make and one or two plays that they did make.”

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they got a chance to redeem themselves just a few days later when another undefeated team, North Attleboro, came to town on Saturday night in search of their sixth straight win. And the hosts took full advantage of their opportunity, demolishing the upstart Red Rocketeers 8-0 in front of hundreds of NA faithful who had made the trip to Canton.

Shuman said it was probably the largest visiting crowd, outside of a Franklin game, that he has ever seen as a coach. However, they had very little to cheer about as Canton piled on goal after goal, led by junior Brian Brooks, who finished with a hat trick, including a goal in all three periods.

Senior captain Kurt Leavitt also had a big game with a goal and two assists, as did fellow captains Steve Mullaney (3 assists) and Mike Denehy (1 goal, 1 assist). Junior Ben Lodge, sophomore Brian Hagan, and senior Matt Lennon also had goals in the victory, while junior Tony Fransescon, senior JC Marcone, and freshmen John Femia and Matt Lazaro each had one assist.

The Bulldogs also had a strong offensive showing earlier in the week against Norwell, as they rode a big third period to a 6-2 victory on New Year’s Eve.

Shuman said the first two periods were characterized by sloppy and undisciplined play — especially the second period when a series of Canton penalties allowed Norwell to get back in the game and tie the score at 2-2. But the Bulldogs eventually settled down and got to work, dominating the final frame behind goals from Francescon, Brooks, senior captain Pat Ward, and Marcone. Brooks also scored an unassisted goal late in the opening period, followed by a goal from Denehy off a pass from Lennon.

Now back over .500, the Bulldogs will look to build off its strong week with games against Attleboro on Wednesday and a rematch against rival Franklin this Saturday at home beginning at 4 p.m.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=18357

Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 10 2013. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.