Canton's Sam Carlino is a scoring machine, but he's had plenty of help to become this good
CANTON – Sam Carlino has put up some simply jaw-dropping stats during the last two seasons with the Canton High boys lacrosse team.
As a junior, he needed just 16 games to record 108 points on 57 goals and 51 assists. Those numbers led the Hockomock League in scoring. He’s followed up that sensational junior season with a monster high school finale with 57 goals and 37 assists so far. He’s had huge games against Milford (6 goals, 6 assists in the season opener), Attleboro (10 goals, 4 assists) and Oliver Ames (8 of team’s 11 goals). In fact, he’s accounted for around 75 percent of all of Canton’s offense.
But he’s quick to share the credit. To score a goal almost always requires a little help in the form of a pass or a screen.
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“As dominant as Carlino is and as good as he’s been and how many points he’s putting up,” said Canton coach Ryan Quinn, “he wouldn’t be able to do that without all those other guys around him.”
Backyard battles
Carlino developed his game at a young age with the help – although at the time he might not have phrased it that way – of his older brother, Max. "He definitely pushed me to my limits and made me a lot better," Carlino said of Max, who was a defenseman at Xaverian in his playing days.
“We would go at it in the backyard back in the day,” said Sam, who has scored over 200 points the last two seasons.
There will be some more family battles next year. Carlino is headed to Elon University in North Carolina and he’ll join a pair of family members on the school’s high-level club team. Older brother Max and cousin Jake Generazzo are already playing there. Generazzo was an attackman at Silver Lake before graduating last spring.
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“It was a pretty easy decision for me to just go play club and have some fun with my family,” said Carlino. “It’s definitely going to be fun. I’ve never played with either of them, so it’s going to be an experience.”
So who is the best player in the family? Carlino pulls no punches when he answers that one.
“I think I’d have to go with myself,” said Carlino with a smile. “Me and my brother are always arguing, because he’s a defenseman, about who would win in a 1-v-1. I always give myself the upper hand, but he’s a tough kid, he’s aggressive. I think it would be close.”
A sacrifice for the team
The Bulldogs had a major question mark in net entering this season with league MVP Dylan Coyne having graduated.
To fill the void, sophomore Patrick Drury, one of Canton’s best attackman, volunteered to play in goal. This left Carlino a bigger role to fill on the offense, but ultimately helped the team. After scoring 55 goals as a freshman, Drury has been a pleasant surprise in goal.
"I honestly love it,” said Carlino of Drury’s role change. “He’s a great kid, great attackman. It takes a lot of courage to step in the net after never playing. He’s doing a great job, he really is. I’m proud of him.”
Quinn said Drury’s goaltending experience was limited to messing around in practice until this spring, but he’s quickly become one of the better goalies in the league.
“He’s been awesome,” Quinn said of Drury. “He’s one of the best goalies we see from a week-to-week basis.
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“He’s one of those kids that will do anything the coaches ask, which when it gets to this age some kids already know their role and stay in their role. He’s one of those kids just asking what he can do to help.”
Not a one-man show
Although Carlino can take over a game like few others in the area, there’s other Bulldogs who bring it in the offensive end.
Midfielder Brendan Tourgee is second on the team with around 50 points. “He’ll do great things in the future,” said Carlino.
Junior Jeff Chaput, a lefty attack, looks primed to try to fill in some of Carlino’s void next season. “Very solid player,” according to Carlino.
Eddie Gillis is a senior captain in the midfield along with AJ Thomas.
“I’d have to say the hardest worker on the team,” said Carlino of Gillis. “He’s a defensive middle, which is self-explanatory, you’ve got to be a tough kid to do that.”
When Drury moved to goaltender, freshman Dylan Albert was thrown into the fire at attack. He continued to improve, so his temporary promotion turned out to be permanent.
“He snuck his way into the lineup and hasn’t given it back,” said Quinn of the rookie.
Quinn is hoping some of the younger players learn from being around Carlino.
"I think the one thing that Sam shows everybody is the level it takes to be good at this level,” said Quinn.
Carlino was also sure to highlight his other captain, defenseman Sean Connolly.
“Sean is a great defensive captain. He’s very loud on the field, he just motivates all the defensemen,” said Carlino.
Still, there are times when Canton’s best play is to give the ball to Carlino, no matter the defense, and let him go to work.
“We had a more well-rounded team last year,” said Quinn. "It’s become almost painfully apparent this year, he’s accounting for about 75 percent of all of our offense. It’s going to be tough to replace a guy like that.
“The thing that has been the most impressive to me is that everyone knows that he’s the guy. When he walks on the field, he’s one of those guys."
One opponent, Mansfield, went as far as face-guarding Carlino all over the field to try to deny him the ball. Canton countered in the second half by using him as a decoy, having him stand in the midfield and let his teammates go 5-on-5. The Bulldogs won that game, 8-6.
“Mansfield (in the) third and fourth quarter had a kid locking me off, just chasing me everywhere,” said Carlino, who admitted being a bystander was a tough adjustment. “Coach told me to just sit at midfield and let the boys play 5-on-5.
“Taking somebody out creates a lot more space for my teammates and they were able to create some scoring chances.”
“Some of the games I think he’s played his best (in) are probably not some of the games you see (him stand out) on the scoresheet,” said Quinn. “He had a really big game against Mansfield earlier this year."
Carlino and the Bulldogs have had to deal with more attention from opposition this season. Quinn said Carlino started to be the focal point of defensive game plans about four games into last season. With Canton graduating some key pieces, opponents' priority of stopping Carlino has only increased this season.
The Bulldogs are also coming off one of their best seasons in program history. They shared the Hockomock League Davenport Division title with Foxboro and dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to Hanover in the Division 2 South Sectional finals.
With a tougher schedule and some major graduations, the Bulldogs have taken their lumps this season with a 5-10 record (two one-goal losses), but still are on track to qualify for the tournament (in large part due to a solid Hockomock League and a tough non-league slate). In the latest power rankings, which were released Friday morning, Canton came in comfortably in the field as the No. 25 seed. That didn't account for a 13-10 loss to Div. 1 Marshfield, which was the No. 17 seed.
Following last year’s run, there’s some tournament experience that Canton hopes make them a live underdog come playoffs.
“I think we will definitely be a dark horse,” said Carlino. “We have some power on this team and I feel like when the moment comes where we have to really perform, then we will.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Canton's Sam Carlino has put up jaw-dropping stats for boys lax team
