Deep & talented Canton High field hockey team rolls to 3-0 start

Reigning Hock Davenport MVP winner Shannon Lane is off to a blistering start this fall. (Mike Tureski photo)

It’s been smooth sailing so far for the undefeated CHS varsity field hockey team, who ran their streak of shutout wins to three straight with a 9-0 rout of Taunton at home earlier this week.

Combined with another 9-0 victory in the season opener at Stoughton and a 5-0 home win last Thursday versus Oliver Ames, the Bulldogs now have a Hockomock League-leading +23 scoring margin and are one of only three unbeaten teams remaining along with Kelley-Rex Division powers Franklin (3-0) and Attleboro (2-0-1).

While all of this is great news for a Canton squad with sky-high expectations and designs on a state title run, head coach Chrissy O’Connor said the “first big test” will come tomorrow as the Bulldogs head down to Attleboro to face off against the D1 Bombardiers.

“We’ve had a strong start, but I think we need to be tested a little and we should have a much better sense of where we’re at by this time next week,” said O’Connor. “We certainly have the skill level to compete against the top teams; it’s just a question of whether we can put it all together.”

Few other teams, however, have a playmaking and scoring force like Canton’s Shannon Lane, who committed to Providence College early in her junior season and proceeded to run away with the Hockomock Davenport MVP Award while powering the Bulldogs to a second consecutive state Final Four berth.

This year, Lane is back to anchor the midfield as a senior captain and has certainly looked the part of a superstar, tallying multiple goals in each of the team’s three wins. Classmate and fellow co-captain Cassidy Lyons is another key weapon and a perfect complement to Lane, offering an excellent blend of skill, speed and hustle to go along with plenty of big-game experience.

The defense also features several varsity veterans, led by senior captains Grace Martinek and Ava Starr as well as juniors Ellie Young and Tabitha McCready. The added experience should serve the team well in the backfield as the Bulldogs transition to a new starting goalie in Sophia Carlton.

The biggest changes for the starting corps is at forward, which is anchored this year by seniors Riley Blake, Annie Eckler and Lily Quersher. Blake has been especially productive in the early going with back-to-back hat tricks in their two most recent wins, while Eckler paced the team with a trio of goals in the season opener versus Stoughton.

Quersher also got on the scoreboard in that game, as did promising sophomore Kate Giannacopoulos, who scored again on Monday in the Taunton win. Also finding the net in recent wins for the Bulldogs were Lyons, McCready, Katherine Albert and Violet Penders. In addition to tomorrow’s game at Attleboro, the Bulldogs were also due to visit Mansfield earlier this week, with upcoming games next Tuesday at North Attleboro and next Thursday at home versus Franklin.

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