BOURNE, Mass. - Westwood scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the game, goalie Chris Dyson made 26 saves and the Wolverines beat Canton 4-1 in the D2 South Sectional Finals.
Westwood, the top seed in D2 South, scored less than four minutes into the first period when Chris Eldridge found Nick Conway alone in front and the senior buried it. Less than three minutes later, Conway weaved through the Canton defense and fired a wrist shot that snuck under the arm of Canton goalie Justin Slocum and the Wolverines had a 2-0 lead with 8:34 to play.
But just when it looked like Westwood would run away with it, the Bulldogs got on the board 34 seconds after Conway’s second goal. Junior Seamus Pecoraro forced a turnover behind Westwood’s net and battled toward the corner. Pecoraro turned and threw the puck towards goal from behind the red line and the puck deflected off a Westwood player and in to make it 2-1.
“We thought about taking a timeout but we responded pretty well,” Canton head coach Brian Shuman said. “We had the one shot and we responded to make it 2-1. It’s tough to fall behind to a good team early. It sort of sets the wrong tone for the game. We tried to claw back but we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Although Canton had a bit of puck luck with their lone goal, the Bulldogs couldn’t get the puck to bounce in their favor the rest of the game.
The Bulldogs had the better of the play for the final eight minutes of the first period and tried to translate that into pressure in the second period but instead were forced to go on the penalty kill. Sophomore Shaun Kirby crashed the net, looking to be on the receiving end of a centering pass but instead collided with Dyson and tumbled into the goal and was whistled for goalie interference.
Westwood took advantage of the extra man opportunity as just 26 seconds in, the Wolverines restored its two goal lead. Jimmy Conway used a perfect pass from just inside the blue line to a wide open Ken Mackin and he tapped it in, leaving Slocum no chance.
Canton again took control of the play and nearly cut the deficit back to one again with just under 11 minutes to go. Junior Matt Lazaro easily deked around a Westwood defenseman and ripped a shot by Dyson was able to get the slightest piece of the puck with his glove to send it high.
In the this period, Canton went on the man-advantage less than two minutes in but couldn’t muster up more than a long shot on goal in the ninety seconds.
“We had some chances, in the second period too,” Shuman said. “It was just one of things where we just couldn’t find it. We just couldn’t make the big play when we needed it. That’s not to say they weren’t trying because the effort was definitely there.
“You could definitely see frustration creep in. That was our job on the bench to try to keep them up. It happens, they have to realize not every puck will bounce our way and we have to keep fighting. We’ve had some puck bounce our away this postseason but the puck didn’t bounce our way this game.”
The dagger came with 6:37 left as Mackin skated through the zone and fired a shot from the slot that clanked off the post and in to give Westwood a 4-1 lead.
“That was hard,” Shuman said. “We were playing very aggressive. Our defense was pinching, which we usually don’t have them do, and the kid made a good shot. That’s the kind of shots they were making this game.”
Canton pulled Slocum with 5:51 left in the game to try to get back into the game and registered eight shots on goal but Dyson was up to the challenge each time.
“At the point, we had an in-zone face off, we had nothing to lose,” Shuman said. “We tried to get a quick one, then we’d put the goalie back in and see if we could chip away at it. It worked out fine, we held them without a shot for the final six minutes but we just couldn’t bury it.”
Canton finishes as D2 South finalists for the second straight year and finish with a 16-7-1 record overall.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.