Icemen earn No. 2 seed in D2 sectionals

By Jay Turner

Despite having a superior head-to-head record, including a dominant win in the annual Hockomock Classic game, the Canton High boys’ ice hockey team will have to settle for the No. 2 seed behind rival Franklin in the Division 2 south playoffs after closing out the season with a 1-1-1 showing at the highly competitive Bridgewater Tournament.

Held at the Bridgewater Rink over February vacation week, the tournament featured eight of the region’s top programs, including Division 1 heavyweights such as Marshfield, Barnstable, and Xaverian.

Franklin also took part in the season-ending tourney, and by beating both Xaverian and St. Peter-Marian of Worcester, the Panthers were able to snag a 16^th win and edge out Canton (15-2-3) for the top overall seed.

The Bulldogs, however, do not seem to be overly concerned, especially since all of their postseason games will be played at a neutral site, beginning with Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup in Brockton against either No. 7 North Quincy or No. 10 Coyle Cassidy.

CC was actually Canton’s last opponent in Bridgewater last week, and it was the one team that the Bulldogs managed a win against, led by the forward line of Nick O’Connor, Brian Brooks, and JC Marcone.

All three players have been outstanding as of late, and they came up huge again in this game, with O’Connor netting the game’s first goal on a beautiful feed from Brooks with only minutes to go in the third period.

Ryan Nagel then made it 2-0 just 30 seconds later, with assists going to Will Conroy and Matt Malloy. Coyle added a goal of its own with a minute left to make it a 2-1 final.

Head coach Brian Shuman said afterward that he was thrilled with the victory, especially against a team like CC, which he described as “very good with a deceptive record.”

Shuman, in fact, was generally pleased with the team’s play in all three games last week, including a 3-3 tie against host Bridgewater-Raynham and a 3-1 loss to St. Peter-Marian.

In the first game against BR on Monday, all six goals came in the final two periods, with the home team winning the second frame 2-1 and the visitors claiming the third by the same score. Canton goals were scored by O’Connor, Brooks, and Malloy, while O’Connor and Brooks also registered assists. The two teams went on to play an overtime period followed by a shootout — both strictly for tournament purposes — and BR prevailed by a 2-1 score.

In the game against St. Peter-Marian, the Bulldogs had several impressive stretches, but they were unable to solve the opposing goalie, who held them scoreless over the final two periods. O’Connor had the lone goal for Canton late in the first to make it a 2-1 game. St. Peter-Marian added another goal in the third to round out the scoring.

All in all, Shuman was happy with the team’s performance in Bridgewater, adding that he has been impressed with this group from the moment the first puck dropped back in December.

“This is probably the hardest schedule we have put together since I’ve been here,” said Shuman. “These guys have had a great regular season, and we’re really hoping that it continues into the playoffs.”

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