The boys drove out on a sunny afternoon to the home turf of the Salmon River Shamrocks to play in a crucial league game. The Bears dropped this game 2-1 to Salmon River in a close match.
The Bears came out looking slow to start the game. Salmon River controlled the ball for most of the starting minutes of the game, hemming in the Bears in their own defensive end many times. In the 16th minute, the Shamrocks were awarded a penalty kick after their forward was knocked down in the box. They cashed in the first point of the game after tucking the shot to the right side of the net.
Canton turned it around after the start of the game returning to their usual standard of play. The Bears had many chances but Salmon River’s defense were able to block shots and clear the ball to maintain their lead. Saves on shots from seniors Griffin Coakley and Will Andes and important blocked shots from the Shamrock defense denied Canton a game-tying goal going into halftime. Canton’s defense played solid towards the end of the half, keeping Salmon RIver’s chances to a minimum.
The game returned to a back-and-forth battle between both sides trying to notch a goal coming out into the second half. After left back Will McDonough was sent off with a yellow card, the Canton defense remained in check with multiple important clears from sweeper Matt Holbrook. As the half went on Canton gained offensive control of the game with Andes launching many shots at net and the Bears taking several other corner kicks and shots.
The Bears finally evened the game in the 72nd minute off of a free kick from 20 yards out. Coakley took the shot off of the kick and sent it into the top left corner of the net to make it a 1-1 game.
The tie game did not last long as just four minutes later, a Shamrock forward gained possession of the ball, played off of Canton’s end line, and shot the ball perfectly from the far side into the top right corner giving it no chance to be stopped by the Bears to regain the lead for Salmon River.
Canton pulled out all the stops to score a goal in the final four minutes of play. The Bears had multiple corner kicks and shots from seniors Colden Francey, Aaron Rosales, and Will Andes but all came without a goal. The Shamrocks cleared the ball out as time expired to seal their win against Canton.
Canton turns around after the weekend to face Ogdensburg at home on Monday, September 28 at 4:30 in another league game.