Icemen tie Mansfield with 3 late goals
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
Down by three
in the final period against a good Mansfield team and in real
danger of falling out of contention for the Hockomock title, the
CHS boys’ varsity hockey team could have easily thrown in the
towel and accepted its second defeat in as many games. Instead,
the Bulldogs stormed back to life, scoring three unanswered
goals in a hostile environment to salvage the 3-3 tie.
 More than just
an exciting comeback, Wednesday’s result kept the Bulldogs in
the thick of the race, while Saturday’s 7-0 win over Foxboro,
coupled with a Mansfield loss, moved them back into second place
and within striking distance of rival Franklin.
The feat is
particularly remarkable when one considers how secure
Mansfield’s lead appeared to be. The Bulldogs had actually
started strong, outscoring their hosts 12-6 in a scoreless first
period, but the Hornets came out with a vengeance in the second
where they took advantage of three Canton penalties to build a
three-goal advantage. The lone bright spot for Canton in the
period was a hard slap shot by freshman Pat Ward that appeared
to go in, but the officials ruled it “no goal” as Mansfield
continued to dominate.
But the
Bulldogs simply refused to quit, mounting an improbable
third-period comeback fueled by four Mansfield penalties.
Senior Ryan
Bogosian struck first about two minutes in, assisted by
co-captains Matt Buckley and Billy Duggan. Five minutes later
freshman Nick O’Connor would score to make it 3-2, with the
assist going to captain Frank Eckler. Then, with two minutes
left to play, Duggan scored on a Buckley rebound to even the
score at 3.
The Bulldogs
had several chances to complete the turnaround after Duggan’s
game-tying goal, but they ran out of time and ended up settling
for the draw.
On Saturday,
Canton had a much easier time with winless Foxboro as the team
overcame a slow start before trouncing the Warriors with several
late goals, including three in a 40-second span early in the
third. Two of those goals were scored by junior Kevin Rooney,
who finished with a hat trick.
Also scoring
goals for the Bulldogs were Bobby Hayhurst, Joey DiPillo,
Duggan, and O’Connor, while Kyle Leavitt, Stephen Mullaney, Paul
Shepter and James Cavanagh all registered assists.
With
Saturday’s victory, Canton improved to 5-1-1 against Hockomock
opponents (7-1-1 overall) and the team now sits alone in second
place behind undefeated Franklin (8-0).
This week, the
Bulldogs will look to add to its win total with games against
1-6 North Attleboro and 2-6 Stoughton. They will then play a
rare Monday contest against non-league Pembroke before resuming
league play against King Philip next Wednesday, February 3, at
home.
January 28, 2010
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