Canton 5 – Salmon River 4
The Bears ended the first half of their season with the most anticipated game in Section X, as they hosted the undefeated Shamrocks on Sept. 26. Salmon River started the scoring early, proving how difficult it would be to play defense in the sloppy conditions. Sophomore Ethan Francey tied the game up off of a pass from junior Saverio Sergi. The Bears tacked on another on a 25 yard rocket from junior Ryan Jones, assisted by senior Owen Hall. Looking to show himself up, Jones scored another from 30 yards out, this time off a pass from senior Bradley Frank. Salmon River scored one more before the half ended, scored by senior captain Kade Cook, to go into the half just one down.
With their perfect season on the line, Salmon River came out firing in the second half. They scored two goals within the first 10 minutes to retake the lead, 4-3. The Bears knotted it back up when Jones scored on a penalty kick, completing his hat trick. Canton kept applying the pressure, and forced the Shamrocks back onto their heels. Hall sent a laser head ball from 25 yards out off of the post, and Francey pounded it home to give Canton a one goal lead.
With Salmon River in desperation mode, the Bears defense and sophomore goalie Jackson Ames stepped up their games. With time winding down, Cook launched a shot destined for the upper-right corner. Ames denied the shot, making an unbelievable save. Coach Bill Reed called it “one of the greatest saves I’ve ever seen.”
The Bears went on to win, 5-4. Ames had nine saves in the winning effort. With a win, Canton was tied atop the Central Division with Massena and Salmon River, as every team had a 5-1 league record.
Canton 3 – SLC 1
Coming off their biggest victory of the year, the Bears welcomed their first Section X Class C opponent, the Larries of SLC on Sept. 28.
Senior Vincent Nelson-Fuse scored early to give the Bears the lead. The Bears played a solid first half, despite only scoring one goal. They possessed the ball as well as they had all year, and were outrunning the Larries to every loose ball. Going into the second half, the Bears main goal was to score more. The Bears junior connection struck once again, as Jones set up Francey to give Canton a two-goal lead. That lead was cut in half when SLC scored on a penalty kick. The Bears continued to dominate the game, but still couldn’t capitalize. Eventually, Nelson-Fuse sent a pass to Jones, who scored with six minutes left. Ames had a lone save in the win.
Canton 4 – General Brown 1
Canton welcomed a non-league opponent to Roger Dusharm Field on Sept. 30, as the Lions of General Brown came to town. The Bears once again set the pace of the game early and controlled possession. Francey scored the Bears first goal in a bizarre manner, with the assist going to Ames. His punt traveled over the heads of the Lions defenders, and Francey was gone on a breakaway. Canton finished their first half with another goal, as Francey assisted a Frank goal. They went into the half with a 2-0 lead.
The Bears scored almost an identical goal to start off the second half as they did to end the first half, Frank from Francey. The Lions scored to spoil Ames’ shutout, putting the score at 3-1. Francey scored his second of the game and tenth of the season a little later, and Canton went on to win 4-1. Ames had nine saves in the win.
The Bears host Gouverneur on Wednesday at Roger Dusharm Field to kick off the second half of league play.
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