Early goals in both the first and second periods helped propel the Golden Bears to a resounding 5-1 win over Massena at the Canton Recreational Pavilion Wednesday night. The win puts Canton in first place in Division I.
Canton’s first goal came less than two minutes into the game on a powerplay. A scrum off the faceoff in Massena’s end resulted in the Bears possessing the puck. Junior Owen Logan carried the puck up the side wall toward the blue line before finding senior forward Caleb Premo in the high slot. Premo got the puck to the goal, where a mass of bodies in front fought for the rebound. It was senior forward David Seymour who was able to finally shovel it home for the first score of the game.
Later in the first period, the Bears would double their lead. After a Massena forward carried the puck into Canton’s zone, senior defender Jack Brandy stepped to the puck carrier and laid him down, causing a turnover that was picked up by Logan. Logan’s speed wreaked havoc on the Massena defenders, and he was able to slip around them before sliding the puck between the legs of the Raiders’ goaltender. The first period ended 2-0.
Again in the second, the Bears opened the scoring less than two minutes into the period. Senior forward Caleb Briggs took advantage of a good jump off the faceoff to scurry past a Massena forward and beat the defender to the puck near Canton’s blue line. He played a soft chip around the defender and picked the puck up in the neutral zone, carrying it with speed into the Massena end before finding Premo alone in the slot for an easy score.
It was after this goal that a serious injury caused a significant delay in action. On what appeared to be an innocent collision along the boards, Seymour went down for the Bears clutching his knee. He was eventually stretchered off and taken to the hospital by Canton Rescue, and is awaiting further evaluation at the time of publication.
With a new motivation to win after seeing their teammate injured, the Bears wasted no time in increasing their lead yet again. Premo forced a Massena forward to cough up the puck in Canton’s end of the ice, and he immediately found Logan streaking out of the zone. After carrying the puck with speed into the offensive zone, Logan found Briggs alongside him, and slid the puck to his linemate for another easy goal delivered into the top corner.
Logan would close out the scoring for the Bears near the end of the second period, weaving his way through the Massena defenders before beating the goaltender glove side.
Canton spent much of the third period giving opportunities to some of its depth players and resting some well-worn veterans. Several young Bears stepped up in the absence of some key players, including Sean McCluskey, who tallied his first point on Logan’s final goal of the night.
The Bears host a non-league contest against Bishop Timon Friday night at the Canton Recreational Pavilion. Puck drop is 7:45 p.m.
Photos, courtesy of Shelly Pike, can be found here.
