Boys’ lax finishes strong with thrilling OT win

By Jay Turner

A disappointing season ended on a high note for the CHS boys’ lacrosse team last week as the Bulldogs clawed their way back to beat Medway 7-6 in overtime.

Senior captain Ben Lodge (Mike Barucci photo)

Coming off a convincing loss to Foxboro and having already been eliminated from postseason contention, the boys could have easily called it quits — especially after Medway came roaring back in the fourth quarter to take the lead.

Instead, they rose to the occasion, scoring twice in the final two minutes to take back the lead and then once more in the final minute of overtime to cap off the thrilling win.

“That was one of our better games and it was a great way to end the season,” said head coach Bill Bendell, who had never seen an ending quite like that one in his ten years as coach.

At one point, it was Medway that was celebrating after the Mustangs snuck one past goalie Chris Albert with a single second left in regulation to tie the game at 6-6. Things then got worse for the Bulldogs at the start of overtime as a Canton player was called for a penalty, giving the hosts a man advantage and what looked like a sure win.

“We could have folded right there,” said Bendell, “but we stepped up and through adversity guys made plays. They were calm under pressure, and the older guys showed great leadership.”

In the end it was Austin Zannino who would bury the game winner — one of two goals scored by the senior midfielder on the night.

The other hero for Canton was senior captain Ben Lodge, who is normally the Bulldogs’ starting goalie but was moved to attack and led all players with four goals, including the game-tying and go-ahead goals late in regulation.

Meanwhile, Albert drew his first start in the cage and was stellar in that role, finishing with 19 saves.

Bendell said that both Lodge and Albert played “unbelievable” at their respective positions. “They were great,” he said. “It was everything we could have asked for. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”

Senior Casey Dwyer also had a goal in the win as the seniors accounted for 100 percent of the scoring for the first time all season.

Earlier in the week, senior captain Matt Bagley earned his first goal of the season in the Bulldogs’ 14-5 loss to Foxboro. Bagley, an All-Hockomock defender, scored within the first 10 seconds of the game after winning the opening faceoff.

Ben O’Neill added another goal a few minutes later to give Canton an early 2-0 lead, but the offense eventually stalled as the Warriors went on to score eight straight goals.

O’Neill finished with two goals in the contest while junior Aidan Carr, a first-year lacrosse player, scored his first career goal. Dwyer also had a goal in the losing effort.

The Bulldogs finish the season in third place in the Davenport Division with a league record of 6-7. The Medway victory was their first and only nonleague win of the year as they finished at 7-11 overall.

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