Mansfield, 2 @ Franklin, 8 – Final – Ben Paterson, Anthony Lampasona, and Dan Daley each had three points apiece in a big win against Mansfield. The Panthers built a 3-0 lead in the first period and then scored twice in the final minute to extend the lead to 5-0. Paterson had two goals and one assists while both Lamapsona and Daley scored once with two assists. Ryan Sicchio, Aidan Kuykendall, Logan Marchand, and Dylan McEvoy each scored once for Franklin.
Oliver Ames, 1 @ Plymouth South, 2 – Final
Girls Hockey
Franklin, 1 vs. Medway, 3 – Final
King Philip, 2 @ Norwood, 6 – Final – Mallory Johnston made 49 saves, including the 1,000th of her career in the loss. Katarina Precobb had both KP goals, one assisted by Mara Boldy and the other by Lydia Maxwell.
Hockomock Stars, 5 @ Dedham, 9 – Final
Wrestling
Cohasset Quad (Canton), 9:00AM
Foxboro Quad, 9:00AM
Algonquin Quad (Franklin), 9:00AM
Midland Duals (King Philip), 10:00AM (@ Quabbin)
Woburn Tournament (Mansfield) – Mansfield senior Colton Johnson dominated in the 220-bracket, going 4-0 to win the individual title as the Hornets took 14th place in the Woburn Invitational. Johnson, the top seed in the 220 bracket, opened the day with a first round, and won his second round match with a pin in 62 seconds. Johnson won in the semifinals with another first round pin and defeated the three seed in the finals with his fourth pinfall of the day. Dylan Detch (132) and Odin Miller (170) each finished sixth in their bracket.
Springfield Central Duals (Milford), 9:00AM
Cumberland Tournament (North Attleboro), 10:00AM
Oliver Ames Super Quad/Kieron Smith Tournament – Oliver Ames competed in two locations on Saturday, including a super quad meet at home and the Kieron Smith Memorial Tournament at Monty Tech. In the quad meet, Oliver Ames went 3-1 with wins over Durfee (66-22), Boston Latin Academy (72-12), and Norwood (45-33) along with a close loss to Milton (42-39). Senior captain heavyweight Jaden Hinton made his return to the line and went 4-0, including a pair of pins, and sophomore 145 Danny Dwyer went 4-0 in his varsity debut. Junior Ryan Smith (120, 3-1 overall) and freshman Taharka Parry (132, 2-1 overall) each recorded their first varsity wins. The other half of the squad placed fifth at the Kieron Smith Tournament, highlighted by a first place finish from senior Victor Romeiro (126). Seniors Jake Manthous (182) and Nathan Lipski (145) each took second, and freshman Jonah Bornstein (106) earned third.
St. John’s Shrewsbury Quad (Sharon) – It was another impressive day on the mats for the Eagles, who won all three of that matches. Sharon secured wins over Masconomet (66-12), Marlboro (60-24), and host St. John’s Shrewsbury (46-30). Robby Hutton, Cam Birnbaum, Nick Varvak, Cyrus Jones, Aaron Stafford, Mason Lelling, and Cormac Horlbogen all went undefeated on the day.
Marshfield Quad (Taunton) – Taunton suffered its first loss of the season in a competitive match with Methuen but the Tigers did register three other wins on the day. The Rangers earned a 54-26 win to hand Taunton it’s first loss but the Tigers did pin down victories over South Shore Voke (78-6), Silver Lake (58-240, and host Marshfield (69-12). Xavier Sandoval, Ben Mandeville, Ethan Harris, and Logan Frank all went 4-0 for the Tigers.
Franklin junior Dylan McEvoy takes a shot in the second period against Canton. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
FRANKLIN, Mass. – On paper, it’s just one of eight league games on the schedule, but there’s no hiding the significance of when Canton and Franklin meet on the ice.
The Bulldogs have won the Davenport every single year since the league split into two divisions and the Panthers have had a hand in all but one — a combined 23 division titles over the past 12 seasons.
Both squads are the favorites to win their respective division again this year and are the top two ranked teams in the league, meaning bragging rights were on the line at Pirelli Veteran’s Arena on Saturday night in front of a packed crowd.
Franklin junior goalie Colby Wagner was terrific in net from the opening puck drop, turning in a 38-save shutout performance to lead the Panthers to a 2-0 win.
The Panthers scored once in the first period and added on a key insurance goal late in the third period, with both goals coming in similar fashion thanks in part to Franklin’s speed.
“It’s one of eight [league games] but it’s a good one,” said Franklin head coach Chris Spillane. “It’s just fun to play teams like this, and you know every year it doesn’t matter who’s up or who’s down, when it’s Franklin-Canton, both teams show up to play. And we get to play them again in a non-league game and it will be the same exact thing, the same exact atmosphere in their building.
“It was a gritty win. Our goaltender [Wagner] kept us in this game tonight, he made some key saves. We struggled breaking the puck out, that’s typically our strongest going from defense to offense, we can fly but credit to [Canton], they took time and space away. It was just one of those typical Franklin-Canton games, it was gritty and there’s no space for anyone.”
It didn’t take long for the scoring chances to start as Canton sophomore goalie Colin Davis (31 saves) was forced into making a terrific save just seconds into the contest as senior Aidan Kuykendall found senior Ryan Sicchio streaking into the offensive zone all alone for a chance in close 15 seconds in. And seconds later, Davis denied Anthony Lampasona after a pass from Ben Paterson in a 2-on-1 situation.
Canton got its early chances too as the Bulldogs went on the power play just 63 seconds into the game. Junior Matt Anderson had a blast from the blueline handled by Wagner, and junior Colin Blake had a bid in close that was turned aside.
That set the tone for the next 40-plus minutes as the Panthers and Bulldogs went up-and-done the ice, back and forth with chances on goal. Franklin had four power plays and Canton had two man-advantage chances throughout the contest but neither team cashed in with its special teams.
The first breakout came right at the midway point of the opening period. Paterson won a faceoff in his own defensive zone to junior Logan Marchand, who chipped one up the left boards that eluded the glove of a Canton defenseman at the blue line. Lampasona raced down and got to the puck first in the offensive zone and centered to a wide-open Dan Daley and he roofed his shot just under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead with 7:47 left in the opening stanza.
“Danny Daley, he’s a player to be reckoned with,” Spillane said. “He’s fast and can shoot the puck, his center [Ben Paterson] and [Anthony] Lampasona are both good at getting him the puck. It’s a nice all-junior line to have as our second line.”
Canton nearly responded a minute later when junior Brendan Tourgee dropped a pass out front for Blake, but his deflection on net was denied by Wagner’s shoulder. The Bulldogs had another big chance with just under two minutes to play as junior Brian Middleton won a battle at the blueline and raced in on a breakaway but his backhand bid was turned away by a pad stop from Wagner.
Davis made a nice stop early in the second after Franklin’s Paterson and Daley played a little catch, the former ripping a shot that was turned aside. Canton countered with a nice tip off the stick of sophomore Travis Thomas but Wagner stood tall.
“He’s very comfortable in the net, his rebound control is really good,” Spillane said of Wagner. “They were pressuring the crease and he never got rattled. He’s our number one right now for sure, but we have two other good options too in Jack O’Connor and Joe Torraco.”
While there were chances in all three periods for both teams, both defensive groups played well to limit how many genuine scoring chances there were. Kuykendall paired with senior Liam O’Rielly while Marchand was matched up with Vinnie Pasquarosa. For Canton, senior James Young paired with classmate Griffin Hughes, freshman Teddy Shuman worked with Anderson, and senior Jack Lauro played alongside freshman Graidy Carr.
Canton did have a powerplay five minutes into the second but Sicchio had a big clear, Ben Jarosz interrupted a pass to clear the zone, and Dylan McEvoy won a key faceoff and cleared the puck himself.
The third featured more of the same with chances from both sides, including an early power play for the Panthers that Canton killed off, including a key clearance from Young.
Jack Digirolamo muscled his way into space for a shot that was tipped by AJ Thomas, only for Wagner to get a stick to it. Tourgee found space shortly after but his bomb of a shot was wide of the net.
“We had a lot of one-and-dones and I think a lot of that was the product of missing the net on some key chances, and that started their break out,” said Canton head coach Brian Shuman. “And I think we were a little intimidated by their speed, guys backing off the line and just not able to win the races to pucks. That was preventing us from getting some good in-zone time.”
Franklin tacked on a key insurance goal with just over three minutes to go in the game. The puck bounced out from behind the Franklin net, and Daley was the first to it. He beat a pinching defenseman, slapping the puck off the boards and up the ice.
Sophomore Carter Balducci raced onto it and centered to his brother, senior Tommy Balducci and he found the back of the net to make it 2-0 with 3:04 to play.
“They have so much speed, they’ll disrupt any team they are playing against,” Shuman said. “That’s the fastest team we’ve seen all year, probably the fastest we will see all year. They can go three lines of speed, and they certainly look a lot faster in person than they do on LiveBarn. They’re a good team and any mistake that we made, they made us pay. Whether it was a bad pinch or a guy slightly out of position…our goaltender played well though and made some big stops.”
Franklin boys hockey (2-0-0 Hockomock, 6-1-0 overall) will head to Foxboro to take on the Warriors on Wednesday at 6:30 while Canton (1-1-0, 6-1-0) returns home to Ponky to take on Oliver Ames.
