The Bears played their final regular season game of the year on Thursday, October 22. They went on the road to face the powerful Ogdensburg Blue Devils. Canton lost 2-1 in a strongly fought match.
The Blue Devils opened the game strong, banging a shot off the crossbar early. They scored in the 10th minute when an Ogdensburg forward beat Canton’s defense to the left side, dribbled into the box, and crossed it to the other side where another player buried the goal.
Canton responded by reestablishing the pressure in the middle of the half with shots coming from senior Griffin Coakley and junior Max Decoteau but to no success. The Ogdensburg goalkeeper smothered the Bears’ chances.
The Blue Devils tacked on another goal when Ogdensburg took a shot from deep. The bouncing ball was misjudged by goalkeeper Sean McCluskey and slid into the lower-right corner of the net making it a 2-0 game in the 38th minute right before halftime. Senior Crosby Terrel fought to keep possession of the ball as time winded down but the Bears could not come up with anything.
Canton came back playing hard in the second half trying to narrow down the lead. One chance was created by senior Will Andes who made many moves to beat defenders and drive to the net but was eventually stopped by another defender.
Other dangerous chances came, such as an early shot from freshman Wyatt Francey that was saved. Junior Jackson Zebedee also created a series of runs, dribbles, passes, and defensive plays to keep the ball up the field and the pressure on. Andes took another shot later that deflected off the defender and off the post.
Canton finally capitalized on one of their chances when Francey crossed a ball into the box which was buried by midfielder Malachi Conant, which decreased Ogdensburg’s lead to one in the 64th minute.
The Bears continued to try to put the pressure on late but to no avail. Canton got trapped on the right side struggling to move the ball up the field to a more dangerous possession. Ogdensburg managed to expire the remaining time and the game ended after a last-chance header from sophomore Andrew Downing was saved.
The Bears begin playoffs next Thursday taking it on the road to face Salmon River in the class B semi-finals. The winner of this game will face whoever advances in the other semi-final game between Ogdensburg and Potsdam.