CHS icemen cruise into postseason with two big wins

After taking down Mansfield — the top-ranked team in all of Division 2 south — to capture the inaugural Hockomock Classic Cup, the CHS boys’ ice hockey team went out and took care of business last week in its final two regular season contests, defeating nonleague opponents North Quincy and Melrose on back-to-back days to snag the second seed in the south sectional tournament.

Sophomore Pat Ward (Mike Barucci photo)

Canton, which finished the regular season with the same record (15-3-2) as last year’s state championship squad, will now head straight to the quarterfinals, where it will face #7 Oliver Ames on Saturday, March 5 (location and time to be announced).

The road to the finals then gets markedly tougher from there, as the Bulldogs would either have to play rival Franklin, the No. 3 seed and one of two D2 teams to have beaten them this year, or #6 North Quincy, which played them tough in a 1-0 loss at Quincy Youth Hockey Rink last Thursday.

Boasting an unusual season record of 8-4-8, the Red Raiders proved to be a formidable opponent, according to Canton head coach Brian Shuman.

“They are a very good team and obviously have been in a lot of close games this year,” said Shuman, referring to the team’s eight ties.

However, despite putting some serious pressure on the Bulldog defensemen late in the game, the hosts were unable to get anything past goaltender Rich Nee, who was outstanding in net while collecting 25 saves and earning the shutout.

On offense, the Bulldogs struggled mightily on the power play and generally had an off-day, but they still got the only goal that counted — a TJ Duggan score about halfway through the first period that was assisted by linemate Pat Ward.

After the game, Shuman admitted that he was not thrilled with the overall execution, yet he was more than happy with the final result.

“I wouldn’t say we played our finest game of the season,” he said, “but I guess one of the best compliments you can give a team is that they found a way to win, which we did.”

The Bulldogs then made up for their lack of scoring a day later with a 7-4 home win over Melrose in the season finale.

Junior forward Mike Denehy started things off less than four minutes into the opening period, when he buried his own rebound to give Canton an early 1-0 advantage.

It was one of three goals the Bulldogs would score in the first period, with the biggest one coming with one second left on the clock and the game tied at 2. Senior captain Greg Boyd knocked it home, but it was junior Matt Malloy’s refusal to give up on a loose puck in the corner that paved the way for the score.

The Bulldogs celebrating a third period goal (Mike Barucci photo)

Canton then added to its lead just two minutes into the second with a goal by Brian Brooks, assisted once again by Malloy.

The Bulldogs got their final three goals within a five-minute span at the start of the third, including one by Kurt Leavitt, his first of the season. Other goal scorers included team leader Nick O’Connor and Ward, who also had a couple of assists in the win.

Melrose managed to respond with two quick goals to make it 7-4, but that was the closest the visitors would get.

Shuman said Melrose proved to be “very undisciplined” and took several questionable “runs” at players, particularly late in the game. However, he was proud of his guys as they kept their composure and skated off the ice — and into the postseason — with their dignity fully intact.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Mar 3 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.