Girls hockey tops Duxbury, clinches inaugural Hock title
By Jay Turner
Senior forward Kendra Farrelly has been on fire as of late. (Mike Barucci photo)
After a close road loss to Plymouth at the start of last week, the CHS girls varsity ice hockey team responded with a string of impressive achievements — hanging 10 goals on Stoughton to capture the first ever Hockomock girls hockey championship and then outdueling Division 1 powerhouse Duxbury on their home ice at The Bog Arena.
Earlier this week, the lady Bulldogs continued their latest hot streak with a 6-2 win over Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake, and just recently they were notified that they will be receiving the 2018 Hockomock Sportsmanship Award as voted on by the other league schools.
Suffice it to say, it’s been a fun week for the lady Bulldogs, and it’s about to get even more fun as they await their seeding in the upcoming Division 2 girls tournament.
Strictly from a hockey standpoint, there has been no bigger win on the schedule than Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Dragons (15-3-1), who entered the contest as the fifth ranked team in the Boston Globe Top 20 poll. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 9 at the time and now No. 8, played a clean, crisp game and proved that they can not only skate with the best, but also beat the best.
“You look for a signature-type win, something to point to, and this was probably that,” said head coach Dennis Aldrich. “As I told the girls after the game, we won’t see them in the [Division 2] tournament, but we won’t see anyone better than them in the tournament, so hopefully this is something that they can hang their hats on.”
The game was evenly matched, with Duxbury holding a slight advantage in shots (19-18), but the Bulldogs were more opportunistic and led 2-0 before a late Dragon goal in the waning seconds of the third period. Canton’s top forward line accounted for all of the offense with Kendra Farrelly and Maggie Malloy each notching goals and Lauren Fitzpatrick tallying two assists. Senior goalie Colleen Kelleher also played great, finishing with 18 saves.
A few days earlier against Stoughton, the lady Bulldogs capped off a nearly perfect league record (7-1) with a 10-0 shellacking of the Black Knights, locking up the league title in the inaugural year for Hockomock girls hockey. Farrelly led the way with two goals and one assist; Malloy and Ellie Rae Roberts each had a goal and two assists; and defenseman Meg Aldrich finished with three assists. Also getting on the scoreboard for Canton were Grace Lehane, Maggie Wade, Marissa Devane, Riley Duserick, Rose Malloy, and Theresa O’Brien.
Coach Aldrich said that winning the Hock is a “huge” honor for the Bulldogs. “It’s huge for girls hockey in general,” he added. “The league this year has just been so competitive. There have been so many one-goal games across the league and we’ve certainly had to work hard for all of our wins.”
Aldrich said he was even more proud that the team was chosen to receive the Sportsmanship Award. “This was voted on by the other teams, and to have your peers single you out like that, it’s just really something special,” he said.
Now 14-3-3 overall, Canton was due to close out the regular season with an away game versus Walpole on Wednesday. A win would guarantee the girls the No. 2 seed in the Division 2 playoff bracket, but they can fall no lower than No. 3. The girls will likely receive a couple of home games with action expected to get underway sometime next weekend.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=38286
Posted by Jay Turner
on Feb 24 2018. Filed under High School, Sports.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
