Boys lax earns statement win vs. rival Foxboro

Junior goalie Chris Albert has played his way into the all-star conversation. (Mike Barucci photo)

Led by junior goalie Chris Albert and breakout sophomore sensation Shaun Kirby, the Canton High boys lacrosse team earned its biggest win of the young season last week, upsetting division leading Foxboro 7-5 at the CHS turf field.

“We played our best game overall; we’re really starting to come together,” said an excited head coach Bill Bendell after the victory.

The Warriors, rated No. 25 by Lax Power out of 164 teams in eastern Massachusetts, only had one other loss going into the contest and it was to seventh-ranked Wayland back on April 6. But it was the Bulldogs, who currently sit at No. 57 in the same poll, who looked like the better team on Wednesday, playing with a passion and an urgency that was apparent from the opening whistle.

“It was back and forth early, but even then we were definitely outplaying them,” said Bendell. “They called a couple of early timeouts because I think they were surprised and didn’t think we’d be as good as we were.”

Bendell said he expected his top attacking line of senior captain Tommy Galvin, junior captain Ben O’Neill, and senior Paul Swart to get up for the game — and the trio were as good as advertised, combining for four of the team’s seven goals behind two from Galvin and one apiece from O’Neill and Swart.

But what really excited the coaching staff was the play of the midfielders, especially the line of Kirby, senior Aidan Carr, and junior John Femia. Together the three were difference makers, and Kirby was a flat-out stud, demanding the ball and scoring two clutch goals in what was far and away his best performance to date.

“This was definitely a breakout game for him,” Bendell said of Kirby, who transferred in the fall from Catholic Memorial. “We had seen flashes of that, but we hadn’t seen it for all four quarters. I think he’s going to build on this and be a dominant player for us moving forward.”

Also opening eyes in the victory was sophomore Matt McKay, who was brought up from JV to provide a spark on faceoffs and managed to do just that, winning seven of 12 with assistance from wing man Bobby Mullaney.

The Bulldog defenders, meanwhile, were equally instrumental in the victory as they held a team averaging 11.5 goals per game to less than half of that figure. First-year player Jake Ragusa was particularly impressive, collecting four ground balls and delivering several big, clean hits, and Albert was so good in net that he made it look easy, according to his coach.

“He’s been doing that all year,” Bendell said of Albert, who drew rave reviews from Foxboro’s coach and has played his way into the all-star conversation. “Even late in the fourth quarter, when we were two men down, Foxboro had some doorstop shots and he was making those saves. That was huge for us.”

While it was only one win and just their eighth game overall, Bendell said the Bulldogs (5-3) have now proven themselves against top competition and they should be able to build on this over the second half of the season.

“We have a nice blend of experience and younger players and we certainly have a lot of talent,” he said. “I think we’re on track to make the tournament, and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people if we get in.”

The Bulldogs had Oliver Ames on the docket this week and will wrap up their current six-game home stand with games against Scituate and Milford next Monday and Wednesday.

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