CHS boys soccer fighting for postseason spot

Sophomore Nate Rivera continues to make an impact for the Bulldogs. (Mike Tureski photo)

It’s been a rollercoaster stretch for Canton High’s boys varsity soccer team, which remains right at .500 after another recent win, loss and draw.

“We played probably our best soccer of the season on Friday against a very good Westwood team, followed by probably our worst performance of the season on Monday versus Stoughton,” noted head coach Danny Erickson.

The Westwood game ended in a 1-1 tie at Canton’s Memorial Field, but it came against a red-hot Wolverines squad that had combined for nearly 20 goals in its previous three contests. The Bulldogs struck first in the game, going up 1-0 after a nice combination by sophomore Nate Rivera and senior captain Vlad Francoeur led to a strong finish by Francoeur.

Francoeur’s goal was his eighth of the season, and he’s now second in that category in the Hockomock League while also tying for the league lead in assists with six.

Westwood would come back to even the score at 1-1 with a goal early in the second half, but the Bulldogs clamped down on defense the rest of the way, earning themselves a hard-fought draw.

“We played good in all aspects of the game — in possession, out of possession, and in transition,” noted Erickson. “We were strong on restarts, defensively in particular. It was an overall great vibe and a great performance for us.”

Erickson said senior Shane Kelleher had his best showing of the season against the Wolverines, while senior Ben Weaver continued his strong play, drawing praise from Erickson as one of the team’s “unsung heroes.”

Also playing well in a new spot on the right side as part of an overall strong week was junior Sam Siegal, who came up huge in their previous win over Taunton with the game-winning goal in the waning seconds of the contest.

Canton had gone ahead 1-0 just minutes into the game against the Tigers on a goal by senior captain James Howard, assisted by sophomore Luke Erickson. Taunton would respond 10 minutes later to even the score at 1-1, but the Bulldogs regained the lead early in the second half as Francoeur found the net after beating his defender one on one.

A penalty by Canton gave Taunton new life, however, and after converting the penalty, the Tigers came down and scored again to go up 3-2. Facing what Erickson described as a “key moment of the season,” the Bulldogs managed to regroup and strike for two unanswered goals in the final five minutes, both initiated by a Luke Erickson free kick from roughly the same spot. Senior center back Miles Jereb converted the first opportunity with a ferocious header, and Siegal then sealed it after burying his own rebound.

Now 4-4-4, the Bulldogs will look to push past the .500 mark this week with a game coming up against Franklin on Thursday (today).

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