Boys’ soccer still unbeaten after brutal 2-game stretch

Faced with its toughest test of the season with back-to-back road games against the top two teams in the Kelly-Rex Division, the unbeaten but suddenly hobbled CHS boys’ soccer team looked like two different teams last week — one that pulled out a gutsy 1-0 win over Attleboro and another that “fell apart” down the stretch in an eventual 2-2 tie with Franklin.

On the one hand, the Bulldogs achieved their minimum goals: They remained unbeaten (7-0-4) and came away with at least three points in the standings (a win and a tie). However, for a team with eyes on a state championship, Thursday’s result at Franklin still felt like a major disappointment.

“We really collapsed emotionally, I thought,” said head coach Danny Erickson, whose team is also fighting through injuries to its top two midfielders, senior Matt Malloy and junior Drew Blake.

After being outplayed by the Panthers in a scoreless first half, senior captain Scott Levy appeared to come to the rescue with two “brilliant” goals early in the second half to give Canton a commanding 2-0 lead.

“Then we just kind of fell apart,” said Erickson. “And once they got that first goal [later in the half], the momentum shift was like a tsunami.”

Erickson said the Bulldogs were fortunate to have salvaged a tie; however, they will gladly take it as they remain neck-and-neck with Oliver Ames in a battle for first place in the Davenport Division.

Meanwhile, Canton’s outstanding win at Attleboro on Monday also had implications for the standings, as it dropped the Bombardiers to second place in the Kelly-Rex Division behind Franklin.

“It was probably our best character performance of the year,” said Erickson. “It wasn’t our best soccer, but we really just gutted out a hard-fought win against a very tough Attleboro team.”

The Bulldogs’ lone goal of the game came in the opening minute of the second half when junior Michael Denehy finished off an excellent pass from senior captain Chris Murray.

Despite Murray’s presence in the midfield, Attleboro controlled that area of the field for much of the game as Canton did battle without either Malloy or Blake. But the Bulldog back line of Matt Lennon, Jimmy Kelly, Andrew Vinciguerra and David Feeney were “flawless on the day,” according to Erickson, while goalkeeper Colby Gavigan earned his sixth shutout of the season.

While the week didn’t end well against Franklin three days later, Erickson and company are nonetheless thrilled to have made it this far without a loss and feel good about their chances heading into the stretch run.

With that said, the Bulldogs had another big game right out of the gate this week as they were scheduled to face Sharon — a team they tied earlier in the year — in an away game on Tuesday. On Friday, they will host Foxboro, followed by road games next week against nonleague Silver Lake and second-place Oliver Ames.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 12 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.