Girls soccer notches season’s first win

The Canton High girls soccer team booted its way into the win column this week with a 5-0 road victory over Stoughton on Monday afternoon. The win evened the lady Bulldogs’ record to 1-1 following a season-opening, 3-1 loss to Franklin last week.

Senior Leianna Brune (Mike Barucci photo)

Rain has substantially cut into the start of the season, causing numerous postponements of games and practices. But the team should be plenty busy in the coming days with five games on the docket between now and next Friday, starting tomorrow afternoon at home versus King Philip.

The girls are coming off a successful 2017 campaign in which they placed second in the Davenport Division and qualified for the Division 2 south playoffs with a record of 10-6-2. And hopes are high again this season as the team returns several key contributors, led by sophomores Olivia Rodman and Elisa Diletizia and junior Morgan McCabe.

Rodman earned an all-star nod as a freshman after leading the team in both goals (14) and assists (7) while Diletizia and McCabe both finished among the league’s top 20 in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The team also has an excellent corps of seniors, led by captains Sarah Collins, Julia Hamilton and Morgan McCabe along with Jenna Hamrock, Leianna Brune, Lauren Fitzpatrick, and goalie Briana Murphy.

Rodman and Collins have each scored two goals so far with freshman Gabriella Herivaux and Anne Hoban notching their first career goals in Monday’s game. The entire team saw action against Stoughton, including freshman goalie Elyse Broderick, who combined with Murphy for the shutout.

The 24-member squad has an interesting makeup with seven seniors, seven juniors, four sophomores, and six freshmen. Head coach Kate Howarth said it may be the most talented team that the program has seen in years.

“I think this is going to be a great year,” said Howarth. “Every year is really a great year as we have great talent and kids willing to put in the work to get results. Consistency is going to be key this season. The schedule is a difficult test as we have loads of away games in September, but that is challenge we are looking forward to.”

The coach called Monday’s victory “a start” but noted there is still room for improvement on both sides of the ball. “Our defense was better, but it can be even better,” she said. “Although we scored a lot of goals, we still missed some good opportunities.”

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 21 2018. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.