Boys’ hockey earns 2 big Davenport wins

Sophomore Matt Lazaro added 3 more goals to his team-leading total last week. (Mike Barucci photo)

After struggling to find any offensive rhythm through the first seven games of the season, the Canton High boys’ ice hockey team broke out in a big way last week, combining for a dozen goals in back-to-back wins over Milford and Oliver Ames.

The Bulldogs had been stuck on one victory for the past two weeks before finally getting over the hump in an 8-0 shellacking of Milford last Wednesday at home. The boys then traveled to Asiaf Arena in Brockton and dominated OA 4-1 to take over sole possession of first place in the Davenport Division.

Canton, as a result, is now 3-0-2 in league play (3-2-4 overall) while OA sits in second place at 3-2.

“That was our best week of the season, for sure,” said head coach Brian Shuman. “We got a lot of offense. In fact, we almost doubled our [scoring] output for the entire season with those two games.”

In Wednesday’s win against Milford, three different players had two goals in the game, including sophomore sensation Matt Lazaro, who currently leads the team with nine goals.

Freshman forward Jerry Harding also netted a pair for the hosts — the first two goals of his high school career — as did senior defenseman Tony Francescon, who has been a force on both ends of the ice this season.

Other goal scorers for Canton included senior captain Ben Lodge, who picked up his fifth of the season, and senior captain Andrew Howlett, who opened the scoring in the first period with the first goal of his career.

Against OA on Saturday, the Bulldogs thoroughly outplayed the Tigers in all phases of the game in what Shuman described as a “big statement win” for the team.

“We played a great game all around,” he said afterwards. “That was definitely our best effort of the year.”

After a scoreless first period, the Bulldogs exploded for three goals in the second, starting with sophomore John Femia’s nifty backhand goal a few minutes into the frame off a beautiful pass from sophomore Jimmy Jenkins.

Canton would add two more in the period — one by Lazaro and one by Lodge — to take a commanding 3-0 lead. OA managed to get one back with less than 30 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs brushed it off and went on to dominate the entire third period, capped off with a goal by Francescon that put the game out of reach.

After the game, Shuman raved about the play of his forwards, who put up 40 shots and connected on four of them against all-league goalie Jimmy Tierney. Shuman was equally impressed with the play of his defensemen, led by Francescon, Howlett, Austin Zannino, and freshman Jackson Maffeo. Sophomore goalie Justin Slocum also had another solid performance despite seeing only a dozen shots.

“[Slocum] is kind of like the forgotten man on our team, but he’s been playing great,” said Shuman. “He’s shutting teams down and he just keeps getting better and better.”

This week, the Bulldogs were due to play three games in five days: Monday at Newburyport, Wednesday versus Medfield at home, and Saturday at Foxboro. The team will then host Stoughton on Wednesday, January 29, before welcoming Taunton to town on Saturday, February 1.

Lady Bulldogs snap losing skid

Julie Nagel (Mike Barucci photo)

Just like their male counterparts, the CHS girls’ ice hockey team broke out of an offensive funk with a blowout win last Wednesday against Dover-Sherborn.

The Lady Bulldogs more than tripled their season scoring total, piling up 10 goals in all, including two apiece from Jackie Martin, Julie Nagel, Katie Kelleher, and Mary McNeil. Sarah Wilkinson and Kelsey Trerice also had goals for Canton, and seven different players had at least one assist, led by Caitlyn Feeney with three and Rebecca Eckler with two.

The girls then traveled to play Duxbury on Saturday but could not sustain their momentum against the defending state champs, falling 3-0 while managing only eight shots on net.

Canton (2-7) was due to host Whitman-Hanson/Pembroke and Hingham this week and will get back to action on Monday, January 27, against Braintree at Metropolis Rink. The girls then travel to Falmouth on January 29 before hosting Barnstable on February 1.

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