Canton Hockey Ends Season With Sectional Semi-Final Loss to Oliver Ames

The Canton hockey team ended its season Wednesday night.

The top-seeded Bulldogs were shutout, 2-0 against No. 4 Oliver Ames in the South Sectional Semi-Finals.

Thankfully for OA, sophomore Jimmy Tierney was in net.

"If I was younger, I’d stand on my head too and show you what he did," OA coach Jim Sullivan said. "That’s all I can say – that’s what he did. He stood on his head. He kept us in that game, as usual."

Despite out-shooting OA, 36-24, Canton was unable to get the puck past Tierney once.

Oliver Ames, on the other hand, found the net in the second period when senior defenseman Andrew Romans gave OA the lead with an assist from sophomore Tyler Provost.

That was all the Tigers needed.

"We had our chances and we just couldn’t bury them," Canton coach Brian Shuman said. "They made their shot and we couldn’t make our shot. That’s what happens. We’re two teams that are separated by one win and one loss. We’re two very equal teams."

The win was cemented when OA senior Justin Davidner found an open Canton net with 46 seconds remaining. It was one of just six shots in the third period, compared to Canton's 12.

For Tierney, who had spent the third period fighting off a barrage of Canton shots, a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"Words can’t describe what I went through," he said of Davidner's goal.

Perhaps the closest Canton came to tying the game came with 4:23 left in the third period when the puck bounced off the head of the OA goalie and into the air, who remained miraculously calm as the game dangled in the balance.

"I just froze," he said. "I didn’t want to move and have it bounce off my head so nothing really went through my mind."

Tierney and the Tigers will look to match their performance Sunday at Gallo against the winner of Thursday night's match-up between No. 6 Mansfield and No. 7 Franklin. Each team in the South Sectional final four was a Hockomock League team.

"It says a lot about our league and the caliber of players we have in our league," Shuman said. "I’m proud to be a part of the Hockomock League and where I am. Great coaches, great players."

Shuman said he was proud to have coached his players, particularly his seniors this year.

Seniors Matt Lennon, Yanni Folkes, Stephen Mullaney, JC Marcone, Pat Ward, Jake Paschal, Kurt Leavitt, Justin Rudy, Michael Videtta, Michael Denehy, Rich Nee and Luke Shepter played their final game for the Bulldogs, who finished the season with a 15-4-2 overall record.

"We have a great group of guys," Shuman said. "I’m so proud of that group in the locker room. They’re a great group of kids. The seniors of this team, I’m going to miss coaching this team. I’m going to miss them – it’s a special group."