Canton boys, girls hockey headed back to TD Garden for annual state championship games

BOURNE – Hey, look! Another Canton High hockey Garden party.

They should just book these things back in December. They feel inevitable at this point.

The Bulldogs boys and girls teams once again will conclude their respective seasons on Causeway Street after both teams won Division 2 state semifinals at Gallo Ice Arena on Saturday. The boys rallied for three third-period goals (two by A.J. Thomas) to get past Duxbury, 3-1, and the girls rode Audrey Koen's wraparound goal with 2:38 left in regulation to edge top-seeded Archbishop Williams, 1-0.

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In the boys final at TD Garden, No. 3 Canton (21-4) will face No. 8 Hopkinton (20-4) at 11 a.m. On the girls' side, No. 4 Canton (19-2-4) will play No. 2 Duxbury (23-1-2) in a rematch of a regular-season meeting that ended in a 1-1 tie on Feb. 11 at 9 a.m.

If all this sounds familiar, it should. Both Canton teams were at the Garden last year, although they lost in their Division 2 title games. But the Bulldogs' association with the big stage goes back further than that.

This is the fourth straight time (not including the no-playoffs COVID year of 2021) in which the boys have earned an invitation to the state final. They won it in 2019, shared the crown with Lincoln-Sudbury in 2020 (when COVID forced all the finals to be canceled) and fell to Tewksbury, 3-1, last year.

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"That's amazing," Thomas said of the boys' streak. "I love doing it. The (alumni) who just went in there (to congratulate the current players in the locker room), it means a lot to them. It means a lot to us. I love doing it for my brothers in there."

"That's a Canton tradition," said senior forward Jeffrey Chaput, who netted the tying goal on a 5-on-3 power play a minute into the third period. "We're always back. We're always ready to go. Never count us out. It's not a rebuilding year; it never is with Canton."

The girls lost back-to-back state finals in 2017 and 2018, were declared co-champs (with Wellesley) in 2020 and fell to Algonquin in overtime last year.

"It's awesome. It's amazing," said senior goalie Carolyn Durand, a four-year starter who made 17 saves. "It's an experience that will never get old because it's a new experience every single time. We have a new group of girls. We do it for the younger girls so that they get to experience it. This is my last year playing hockey and my last game is going to be at the Garden. That's awesome. It's everything I could wish for."

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The schedule isn't out yet, but we can assume that the two Canton teams will play back-to-back at TD Garden next Sunday. Just like last year.

"It's something special that we have here, especially with our boys program being able to go (too)," first-year Canton girls coach Nikki Petrich said. "Both programs (going in) back-to-back (seasons). It's just something special for the entire town to be a part of."

Said Chaput of the girls' success: "They're always playing in the Final Four. We're at the Garden with them. Both teams, unreal tradition."

Third period was a charm

As you might expect with teams who have been there and done that, both sets of Bulldogs rose to the occasion in the final 15 minutes.

Start with the boys, who trailed 1-0 at the second intermission, but capitalized on a controversial double penalty on Duxbury in the closing stages of the second period. Two Dragons were whistled for a dustup that appeared to start with a Canton player jabbing at Duxbury goalie Sam Mazanec on a rebound. For the Dragons it was eerily reminiscent of last year's state semifinal loss, in which Tewksbury capitalized on a five-minute major in the second (3-on-3) OT period.

"Terrible call," Duxbury coach Mike Flaherty said. "I can see the one (penalty), not the second one."

The 5-on-3 carried over for 1:47 into the third period, and it didn't take long for Canton to tie it as Thomas found Chaput lurking at the back post for a doorstep one-timer. Chaput has scored in all four Bulldogs playoff games this winter.

"I'm proud of a lot of players," Canton coach Brian Shuman said, "but I might be most proud of him for how far he's come and how well he's playing in these playoffs."

Then it was time for Thomas to take over. With 4:36 left he skated onto a loose puck just inside the offensive zone, swept in and beat Mazanec blocker side for a 2-1 lead. Thomas then supplied the dagger, beating two Dragons to another loose puck and scoring into an empty net with 47.8 seconds left.

"It was amazing," Thomas said of the clincher. "After I hit that one I turned around and looked at the fans, looked at the team; they were all going crazy. I just took it all in. It was a great moment. Coach is always telling us to win the small battles. That was a small battle we had to win there."

Koen played the hero for the girls, taking a puck behind the net, sweeping around the post to the left of Archbishop Williams freshman goalie Evelyn Lacey (who was terrific), and backhanding one five-hole.

"It was kind of a blur," Koen said. "I was just really excited. I had the puck on my stick, and our coach had been saying all game, 'Who's going to put it in? Who's going to do it?' We just had to finish that (game off). I just whipped it in. I didn't really think about it. I just wanted to find the back of the net."

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It was Koen's third goal of the playoffs.

"Before the game it was funny, I saw her briefly in between watching our boys team and she was literally over there in the corner and had her headphones on and was in her zone," Petrich said. "I said, 'I guarantee she scores today.' I had a little bet with our team manager – five bucks says Audrey scores at least our first goal today. It just goes to show the work she put in (pays off). It's her relentless effort and commitment to make her team better."

By the numbers

10: Consecutive games in which the Canton girls have allowed one or zero goals. It's a remarkable streak. "They're incredible," Koen said of the Bulldogs' defensemen (and Durand). "They're so fun to watch."

1: State titles that Petrich won last season. The former Northeastern University player was an assistant at Austin Prep, which claimed the Division 1 crown with a 4-1 win over Arlington. Petrich took over behind the Canton bench for longtime coach Dennis Aldrich, who retired.

1: The number of goals that Duxbury boys senior defenseman Wick Ross scored this year. He struck from the right point with 4:53 left in the second period to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead. "He just competes and competes and competes," Flaherty said. "I'm so happy for him. Big goal for him."

0: The number of goals the Canton boys and Duxbury boys had allowed over the first three rounds of the playoffs.

What's next?

Well, the Bulldogs (both of them) will try for a happier ending than they had last season.

Petrich said she told her to players to "take that feeling we just had today and imagine that on the Garden ice. You're going to remember it for the rest of your life."

That's the idea.

"I think knowing that we've been there before gives us a lot of confidence," Koen said. "Knowing that we have unfinished business at the Garden, we're all going in there knowing that we're winning this game."

Ditto for the boys. Asked about the disappointment of losing last year's state final, Chaput said, "I'll never feel that again. I promise you I'll never feel that again."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Canton boys, girls hockey head back to Garden for Div. 2 state finals