Canton skates past Franklin again
FRANKLIN — After defeating Franklin on Wednesday to open the, Canton had another strong effort Saturday, fending off a late surge and sweeping the home-and-home series with a 5-2 victory over their Hockomock League rivals.
The Bulldogs followed up an early penalty kill with an offensive explosion, getting on the board 8:59 into the first half when senior Elizabeth Tassinari followed up a shot from line-mate Maria Femia, depositing the rebound to make it 1-0.
Just 2:06 later, Canton extended their lead on the power play when Payton McDonough put a shot on net from the blue line that was kicked to the slot by Panthers goalie Gabby Colace (16 saves), before junior Allie McCabe banged home the rebound.
With time winding down in the first, senior captain Ellie Roberts streamed down the right wing, skating beneath the faceoff dot before stepping into a wrist shot that found twine on the short side, making it 3-0 with just 17 seconds remaining in the half.
The Panthers answered in the second half when sophomore Shaw Downing cut into the high slot and roofed a wrist shot past Canton netminder Carolyn Durand (11 saves), to make it 3-1 with 15:34 remaining.
Just 48 seconds later,
Lyndsey Atkinson would toss a dribbler through a screen that bounced off the post and in, to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Bulldogs’ Audrey Koen busted through a pinching defender at her own blue line, creating a 2-on-1 the other way before feeding a tape-totape pass to Roberts, who put a wrist shot back against the grain and inside the far post, to regain a two-goal lead with 8:34 left.
“Her speed really catches people off-guard,” said
Canton head coach Dennis Aldrich, whose squad won the opener 4-0. “That was a great pass from the sophomore Audrey to the senior captain Ellie. … She’s picking corners and feeling confident, so I’m very happy for her and that group.”
Tess Khoury added an insurance with 1:59 remaining while shorthanded, roofing a wrist shot short side to put the game out of reach.
“To respond to that, to give up two goals. … A lot of teams don’t win that game,” Aldrich said. “I loved the confidence our team showed to come back with two big goals.”
The Bulldogs look strong to start the year with two wins against a strong division opponent.
“Nothing is ever easy against Franklin, there’s no quit in that team,” said Aldrich. “We’re happy to come in here and play them back-to-back. We know every game this season could be our last so we just tell them to make it memorable, and so far, so good.”