The Canton Boys Varsity Soccer team lost to the Salmon River Shamrocks, 1-0. A hard-fought game both ways, it was the Shamrocks that came out on top.
The Bears’ defense was top notch the entire game, along with stellar goaltending from Hayden Todd. The Bears found ways to make offensive opportunities, but no opportunities were converted into tallies on the scoreboard. Canton had a number of players battling through injuries, and everybody who played played well. Like many recent games the score going into halftime was 0-0, and Bears were feeling good competing this well with the top-ranked team in Class B.
The Bears came out roaring in the second half and continued to play lockdown defense. The clock was winding down when a Salmon River foul gave the Bears a free kick. The kick was headed and placed perfectly to take the lead, but unfortunately Canton was called offsides on the play. The Bears typically struggle on set plays but this was a rare opportunity to take control of the game.
With less than a minute left the ball found its way onto the Canton half of the field, and was kicked out of bounds to allow Canton’s midfielders to catch up with the play. The Bears were outnumbered and a cross turned into a shot found its way over the goaltenders head and out of reach of the defense, making the score 1-0 with 30 seconds left. The Bears tried to play ahead off the face off but the ball was intercepted by the Salmon River defense and kicked out of bounds to end the game.
The Bears play in a week’s time, Friday versus Ogdensburg at home.
Photos come courtesy of Shelly Pike.
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