New-look boys’ hockey team still chasing 1st win
By Jay Turner
Sophomore John Femia is one of several talented underclassmen on this year’s team. (Mike Barucci photo)
A relatively young and inexperienced CHS boys’ ice hockey team dropped the puck on the 2013-14 regular season last week, opening 0-1-1 with a loss to Franklin and a draw against Davenport rival Oliver Ames.
The defending division champs return only a handful of starters from last year’s 16-4-1 campaign; however, the talent is still there and expectations are high for another successful season.
Last week, the results were mixed as the Bulldogs fell to the Panthers 5-1 on Wednesday before holding off the Tigers in a 3-3 tie on Saturday.
In the Franklin game, Canton actually out-shot its longtime rival but struggled to find the back of the net, with sophomore Matt Lazaro’s power-play tally in the second period accounting for all of the Bulldog offense.
Despite the loss, head coach Brian Shuman said there were many positive takeaways from the opener against Franklin, last season’s D2 south champions.
“The Panthers returned most of their roster from last season, and the relatively young Canton team skated with them for a full 45 minutes,” Shuman wrote in his postgame recap on the team website. “Canton hit two posts and missed wide-open nets on several occasions. The real lapses occurred in the defensive zone, a part of the Bulldogs’ game that will improve with time.”
Unfortunately for Canton, some of those defensive lapses resurfaced late in the OA game, as the Tigers stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game on a pair of third period goals by junior captain Tim Doherty.
Prior to that point, the Bulldogs had out-shot and generally outplayed OA, last year’s D2 south runners-up. While the Tigers struck first, going up 1-0 late in the opening frame, Canton responded with three unanswered goals against all-league netminder Jimmy Tierney, including two by Lazaro and one by senior captain Austin Zannino.
The Bulldogs had several chances to add to its lead but were unable to capitalize, opening the door for the OA comeback — the team’s third in as many games this season.
Canton is off this week but will look to bounce back against nonleague Beverly on Monday, December 30, at Salem State University. The Bulldogs then travel to Franklin on New Year’s Day for a makeup game against Medway, followed by a road game against North Attleboro on Saturday, January 4.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=23479
Posted by Jay Turner
on Dec 26 2013. Filed under High School, Sports.
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