Icemen stomp Lincoln-Sudbury to kick off title defense
By Jay Turner
Senior Brendan Tourgee hopes to lead the Bulldogs back to the Garden this season. (Mike Tureski photo)
Four different Bulldogs found the back of the net and new goalie Connor Geoghan recorded his first career shutout as the CHS boys ice hockey team rolled past perennial D1 contender Lincoln-Sudbury in Saturday’s season opener at the New England Sports Center.
Not only was it an ideal start for the defending Division 2 state champs, but it was a rare blowout against one of their biggest rivals from the north — a team that annually presents as one of their toughest matchups and is one of just two opponents, along with Franklin, to have bested them twice over the previous five seasons.
During that span, in fact, the Bulldogs had a losing record (1-2) against the Warriors but combined to go 100-6-6 against all others, including a 2-1 mark in state title clashes. L-S had also handed Canton its lone loss in the 2019-20 season, with their much-hyped rematch at the Garden scrapped that year due to COVID-19.
The Bulldogs did manage to sneak past last year’s Warriors squad 3-2 in overtime, and on Saturday they seized complete control, dominating possession of the puck from start to finish and outshooting their hosts 38-11 in the contest.
Senior Brendan Tourgee, who is back to anchor the Bulldogs’ top line alongside Travis Thomas and Joey Ryan, led the way with two goals in the win, while the second forward line of Brian Middleton, Colin Blake and Pat Drury produced two more scores — one by Blake in the first period to open the scoring and another by Middleton late in the contest to give the visitors an extra cushion.
Sophomore defenseman Teddy Shuman also got on the scoreboard with a second period tally and played well defensively alongside fellow top blueliner Matt Anderson, with sophomores Graidy Carr and Gavin Thompson also seeing regular minutes as part of the second D pairing.
In goal, Geoghan steps in to fill some big shoes left by former two-year starter Colin Davis — who departed for Dexter Southfield — and the junior certainly proved up to the task in his first career start, turning away every Warrior shot he faced.
The Bulldogs (1-0-0) are once again one of the favorites in Division 2 this season, opening at No. 12 in the Boston Globe Top 20 and at No. 3 in the HNIB News D2 preseason poll behind only Tewksbury and Norwood.
The team returns several key pieces from last year’s state title run but is still relatively young, with a roster featuring eight juniors and a dozen sophomores, plus two freshmen newcomers in Cam Guerschuny and Ryan Elrick. The Bulldogs also have a talented corps of seniors led by Tourgee, Middleton, Blake, Drury and Anderson, with fellow classmates Tyler Findlen, Kevin LaBelle and Brendan Clegg also expected to chip in.
The team was due to head to Falmouth last night and will play their home opener this Saturday, December 16, against Barnstable starting at 6:40 p.m. at Metropolis Rink. The Bulldogs will then close out the December calendar with road games against Franklin and Milton and a home game two days after Christmas versus neighboring Westwood.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=121160
Posted by Jay Turner
on Dec 15 2023. Filed under High School, Sports.
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