The boys played their first home game on the turf in front of a good crowd against Massena on the sunny morning of Saturday, September 19. Massena took the win over Canton 2-1 in a closely contested match.
Canton came out the gate quickly and put one on the board early in the contest. A corner kick from freshman Wyatt Francey in the third minute was served into the box where the ball ended up on the foot of senior Griffin Coakley who drove it into the net to make it a 1-0 game for the Bears.
Canton kept up the pace and carried play for the first half. The Bears kept up their solid offensive play throughout. The Bears remained aware of their surroundings, creating scoring opportunities through great vision and ball movement.The Massena goalkeeper shut down dangerous shots from seniors Will Andes and Colden Francey as well as a corner kick on net from Wyatt Francey.
On the defensive side, Canton played well shutting down many opportunities for the Raiders to keep it a one-goal lead going into halftime. Cornerbacks Andrew Downing and Will McDonough made multiple plays to stop the Massena attack. Senior stopper Aaron Rosales helped to command the defense and move the ball forward.
Massena struck fast coming out of halftime, gaining a breakaway to the left side in the 42nd minute and slotted a shot into the lower left corner to tie the game up. Massena kept up domination of the ball, keeping play in Canton’s defensive end for long periods of time.
The Bears still did have some chances to fire back at Massena in the second half. A free kick won by Colden Francey in scoring range was shot over the net by Andes who also had runs into the box to break up Massena possession. A blocked shot by Downing, a punched-out corner kick from goalkeeper Sean McCluskey, and Rosales continuing his great ball distribution helped to defend the Bears in the middle of the half.
Late in the game, Massena finally broke through the Canton defense and gained another breakaway. It was once again shot to the left side of the net to score another for the Raiders. This made it a one-goal Massena lead, putting Canton on their heels with only eight minutes to score a tying goal
The Bears came close a few times with a free kick taken by Andes just missing the net to the near post and other shots on net were shut down by Massena. Time ran out on the Bears before they could tie it up and the game ended as a 2-1 loss
The game was an even match throughout with both sides playing well in an entertaining game. The Bears just couldn’t convert on a few scoring opportunities and some defensive miscommunication led them to be hemmed in more by Massena in the 2nd half
The boys host their next game on Monday, September 21 at 4 p.m. on the turf against the Parishville Panthers.