Cohasset is not your typical Division 3 team, nor are they really comparable to anyone Canton has faced so far in what has been an historic season for the Bulldogs.
The Skippers are extremely athletic and talented. There are a lot of "lacrosse players" that come through the town and under first-year coach James Beaudoin, they are being taught how to play the game the right way. After a 2-2 start, Cohasset has bought into what Beaudoin was selling and have been mostly unstoppable since in winning 14 of its last 15 games, falling only to Hingham, who is the top seed in the Division 2 tournament and widely considered to be among Massachusetts top programs.
Offensively, the Skippers can be deadly, averaging close to 14 goals per game, and the offense is very deep so shutting off one player won't help the Bulldogs. Attackmen John Mills, Colin Whelan and Nick Tangherlini are terrific finishers, while Will Golden, Drew Nahill and Cole Kissick can move the ball around and score from the midfield.
Defensively, sophomore LSM Tim Gillis has shown enough ability to have been already recruited by UMass, from which he later de-committed. Senior Tommy Ryan is the anchor of the short-stick middies. In the cage behind the defensive unit, junior goalie Jack Conte has been more than solid with a save percentage in the 60s.
Two intangibles that could play into Canton's favor are inexperience and lack of playing time for the starters during the postseason. The Skippers are not a senior-heavy team with only seven on the roster, not all all of whom are contributors. Also, in their first two games of the tournament, the starters were on the bench before the first quarter ended due to lopsided games against inferior opponents. I think some of that came into play in the quarterfinal round game against a very tough and rugged Hamilton-Wenham squad, who managed to hold Cohasset under double digits in scoring.
That said, the Skippers are plenty battle-tested from the regular season and know that Canton is a team who can give them trouble. The Bulldogs have to stay out of the penalty box and allow Cohasset to put themselves there. Valuing possessions is the biggest key for Canton - you cannot make mistakes against a team like the Skippers because they are capable of stringing together four or five goals in the blink of an eye.
Don't turn the ball over, don't get sucked in when Cohasset starts to get overly physical, limit transition and odd-man rushes, and don't be afraid to work the clock on offense and wait for quality shooting chances. If the Bulldogs can do that, they'll find themselves in good shape.