Field hockey team falls in EMass finals for 2nd straight year

After a near-perfect season with 20 wins and one tie, the CHS field hockey team lost 1-0 to Watertown in the Division 2 state semifinals last week. Canton lost by the same score to Watertown in the same game last year, but head coach Fior Griffin said the girls’ performance in both games was different.

“We possessed the ball most of the game, especially in the last 10 to 15 minutes,” she said. “We out-shot them 18-10 and had seven corners to their five.”

The girls fell short, however, when it came to capitalizing on scoring opportunities. Most of the shots went just wide of the cage.

“We always say to them, if you get the ball to the net, something will happen,” Griffin said. “But we just couldn’t seem to get it in.”

The game remained scoreless during the first half. Two minutes into the second half, Watertown scored off a breakaway down the right side of the field. Senior goalie Sarah Healey kept the girls in the game when she stopped Watertown from scoring a second goal off a penalty corner later in the second half.

“The girls, everyone on the team, stepped up huge,” Griffin said, adding that many of the players played through the pain of lingering injuries.

Sophomore Meaghan McKenna popped a blood vessel earlier in the week, but did not show any signs of pain during the game. Sophomore Emma Compagna rolled her ankle in the previous game, but managed to run up and down the field against Watertown. It wasn’t until after the game that she was spotted hobbling off the field.

“The hardest part for me is knowing how badly the group of seniors who’ve been with the program for four years wanted to win the state championship while at Canton High,” Griffin said.

In the four years the seniors have spent at CHS, the field hockey team has managed to go deep into the postseason three times. The team was a runner up in the Division 2 state tournament in 2007 and made it to the state semifinals in 2009 and 2010.

Griffin said the girls weren’t angry at the outcome of the game and knew they played the best they could to put themselves in a possession to win.

“We had an hour-long bus ride back to Canton,” Griffin said. “The first 10 minutes were pretty quiet, but then the girls started singing and enjoying the last bus ride they had together as a team. It really showed what great camaraderie they had all season.”

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Posted by Jeffrey Cattel on Nov 25 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.