Icemen bow out of D2 tourney after rally falls short

Sophomore Johnny Hagan had a stellar postseason for the Bulldogs. (Mike Barucci photo)

It was finally starting to feel like the year.

After a string of close calls and heartbreaking finishes over the past several postseasons, the perennially successful Canton High boys ice hockey team looked primed to make its first trip back to the Garden since its 2010 championship season while seemingly possessing the goods and the mojo to bring home another state title.

But after a dazzling two-game stretch to open the D2 south playoffs, the second-seeded Bulldogs headed down to Bourne for last Thursday’s semifinal game, where they ran into an early buzzsaw and ultimately met their match against a hungry and talented Plymouth South team.

Before they even knew what hit them, the Canton boys found themselves trailing by two goals, and the Panthers added a third midway through the opening period to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

“It was just a convergence of events at the start of the game where I think they came out with some energy, and we found ourselves in an uncharacteristic spot down 3-0,” said head coach Brian Shuman afterwards. “That first goal that they scored somehow found its way through what seemed like four or five people into the perfect spot, and that gave them momentum from the start. I think that shot sort of shell-shocked us a little bit at the beginning.”

It was a demoralizing start to be sure, especially for a Canton team that had allowed more than two goals only once in 23 games before that. Yet to their credit, the Bulldogs refused to pack it in and instead mounted a patient rally, battling back over the next 30-plus minutes before eventually tying the score at 3 on a Johnny Hagan goal with just two minutes remaining in regulation.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the tie score lasted mere moments as Plymouth South regained the lead for good just 14 seconds later on a slap shot by senior Joey Van Winkle. The Panthers would later add an empty net goal with less than a minute to go to make it a 5-3 final score.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for a Canton team that had legitimate title aspirations, and Shuman acknowledged the disappointment that the players and coaches felt with the way that it ended. At the same time, the coach made it clear that a single defeat, however painful, should not define an entire season.

“We were together for almost 100 days, and in that time we had many, many successes,” said Shuman. “And we have many different definitions of success, whether that’s looking at the season in its entirety, guys improving throughout the season, or having several big wins, and I think, for us, it was very much a successful season.”

Even in the loss to the Panthers — who went on to capture the D2 south title — Shuman said there were a number of positive takeaways, including the “big-time” play of Hagan (2 goals) as well as fellow sophomore Chris Lavoie, who had the Bulldogs’ first goal and who Shuman said was a “force the entire game.”

And while the nature of the defeat was uncharacteristic for a team that had allowed less than a goal per game throughout the season, Shuman also made a point to recognize his defensive corps, starting with senior goalie Quinn Gibbs, who was a big reason that they were in that spot to begin with. Similarly, Shuman said his top six defensemen — Owen Lehane, Matt Casamento, Charlie Malloy, Jake Connolly, Nick Allen and Brad Murphy — greatly exceeded expectations and proved to be a real strength of this year’s team. “When one of them seemed to struggle in a game, another one stepped up and they really did balance each other nicely and collectively were one of our biggest surprises.”

In the end, the Bulldogs fell a few games short of their goal but still enjoyed a heck of a season, finishing 17-3-4 against a tough slate of opponents. They surrendered just 23 total goals and racked up 93 of their own, including 32 combined from the dynamic duo of Hagan and Ryan Nolte and another dozen from senior captain Bubba McNeice. Another senior captain, Jack Goyetch, was an all-around force despite modest scoring totals and was recognized by the league’s coaches as this year’s Hockomock MVP. And in league competition, the Bulldogs as a team were once again unbeatable, finishing with a perfect 9-0 mark to claim yet another Davenport Division crown.

“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” said Shuman in retrospect, “but we were fortunate to have a team that did have lofty goals and were deserving of those lofty goals. And in the end you still have to look at the season as a whole and they did have a very impressive year.”

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