'Dogs extend unbeaten streak to 7 games

The CHS Boys Soccer team handed North Attleboro their first loss of the season on Friday afternoon, 3-1, extending the Bulldogs' unbeaten streak to seven straight games.

The 'dogs had the better of the play for a vast majority of the contest but the game was tied at 1-1 at the half.  Paul Corcoran beat two NA players up the right side midway through the first half then put a great ball across to Simon Cruz whose shot attempt ended up being re-directed into the back of the NA net by Griffin Roach. The 'dogs gave up very few chances the rest of the half but faltered on an NA corner kick- surrendering the game-tying goal before the break.

The 2nd half saw the 'dogs come out flying. The combination of Corcoran to Cruz to Roach- this time on a Corcoran throw-in- once again led to the Bulldogs taking a lead as Roach calmly passed his 2nd left-footed goal of the game past the Rocketeer goalkeeper.  The Bulldogs then withstood 15 minutes of tough pressure from the visitors before regaining the upper-hand. The third goal was a beauty- as a Cooper Ashcraft purposeful heading clearance saw an amazing combination involving, Corcoran, Roach and Cruz once again- leading to a quality left-footed finish by sophomore TJ McCabe.

The victory wraps up a very successful stretch of 5 games in 9 days which saw the Bulldogs win 3 and draw 2.  The team now sits at 6-1-2 with a home mark of 4-0-1.  A trip to Taunton on Monday is the next action for the Bulldogs.

Members of team run JFK 1/2 day program

A big shout out to Boys Soccer team members Dylan Coyne, TJ McCabe, David Dempster, Will Keefe and Patrick O'Leary for helping to run soccer games for John F. Kennedy School students during their after school 1/2 day program on Wednesday. They gave us their coveted time on a 1/2 day of school to spend it with these future Bulldogs!

The boys worked with small groups of k-5 students running soccer warm-ups and games. It was a blast for both the high school kids and the JFK kids!

Thanks to the JFK CAPT for having us! It was awesome!

Bulldogs draw with Mansfield

Wednesday night saw the Boys Soccer team play to a scoreless draw with Hock Kelley-Rex leading Mansfield.  The game was back and forth throughout with both teams getting chances but neither were able to convert.

The 2nd half saw the 'dogs get three great looks at goal, but were not able to convert for the win. Alejandro Correal earned his 2nd consecutive shutout in goal and 4th of the season.

The 'dogs will host North Attleboro on Friday afternoon at 3:45.

'Dogs wrap up 3-game road trip unbeaten

A 2-2 draw Saturday night at Foxboro was followed up by a 1-0 win over Sharon on Monday to wrap up a 3-game road trip with 2 wins and a draw, improving the squad's record to 5-1-1.

Both contests were physical battles and the Bulldogs were up for each of them.  Sharon doggedly defended in their own and and were very dangerous on the counter-attack but the Bulldogs back-four and goalkeeper Alejandro Correal thwarted each Eagles chance. Correal had a huge save in each half keeping the game scoreless until Simon Cruz scored the game-winner with 10 minutes to play. The goal came off of a Paul Corcoran throw-in which was flicked on to Cruz by Griffin Roach. Cruz then calmly knocked it by the Eagles goalkeeper.

The Foxboro contest on Saturday saw the Bulldogs take the lead twice before surrendering it each time. Paul Corcoran scored in the opening minutes on a crazy sliding shot from the 18 which beat the Warrior goalkeeper to the near post. But the Bulldogs surrendered a penalty kick shortly after allowing the Warriors to tie up the game. The 'dogs took the lead again when TJ McCabe made a great individual play on the right flank and found a darting Cruz heading to the near post. Cruz then buried his chance into the back of the net. A late, great strike from Foxboro tied the game a 2-2- Final.

The 'dogs will host unbeaten and highly touted Mansfield on Wednesday at 6:30pm.

Dogs grab big road win over KP

The Boys Soccer team won its 3rd straight game on Friday afternoon, 2-1 at King Philip. It was a tale of two halves and the Bulldogs had the better of the play in the first half and the Warriors had the majority of the chances in the 2nd half.  But a sweet finish by Griffin Roach on a corner kick from 30 yards out inside 10 minutes remaining was the difference as the 'dogs held on to win 2-1.

The first half saw lot's of Bulldog chances but both teams ended up finding the back of the net.  The Warriors struck first about 20 minutes in when a miscommunication between the Canton backs and goalkeeper led to an open net goal for KP.  The Bulldogs showed great resilience coming back just minutes later as Paolo Ruggeri calmly finished with a banger from about 30 yards out.

Matt Giglio and Simon Cruz were critical to controlling midfield play throughout the strong first half. Mike Mazzola and Cooper Ashcraft dealt with lot's of KP numbers and pressure throughout the 2nd half. It was a great team effort.

Things don't get any easier and there is no rest for this group as they travel to Foxboro tonight (Saturday, September 22nd) to face the Warriors, who are one of the most dangerous attacking teams in the Hock. 7:00pm kickoff at Ahern Middle School.

Bulldogs make it two-in-a-row

Monday afternoon saw the Boys Soccer team defeat visiting Stoughton 2-0, giving the team its 2nd straight home shutout win. The game was controlled by the Bulldogs from start to finish, but the home team was stymied by a great performance by the Black Knights goalkeeper- Mason Eschleman, who recorded 17 saves on the day.

Griffin Roach struck first for the Bulldogs as he blasted a side-footed volley into the back of the net off a Paul Corcoran throw-in with 15 minutes left in the first half. Simon Cruz would double the lead early in the 2nd half off of a great pass from Corcoran off of a corner kick.

Alejandro Correal  made a big save late to preserve his shutout. Paolo Ruggeri, Dylan Baird, Matt Giglio and Cruz were very strong in controlling the midfield through the game.

The team has 3 days off before a challenging stretch of games beginning with a trip to KP on Friday afternoon. The team will play 3 games in 4 days and 5 games in 8 days.

Dogs bounce back with home shutout win

Junior Alejandro Correal earned his first career shutout on Friday night as the Bulldogs defeated a very tough Franklin team at home, 2-0.  

The first half featured great play from the home-side throughout but things really started tilting the Bulldog's way in the final 15 minutes where the pressure just kept building on the visiting Panthers. Finally, Simon Cruz found himself on top of a loose ball in the box off a Paul Corcoran throw-in, and he tucked it nicely into the side netting.  Correal then had to come up big on a rare first half chance for the Panthers.  The 'dogs had several more chances late in the half to double the lead but had to settle for the one-goal edge at the break. 

That scoreline wouldn't last long into the 2nd half as the home-side came out flying.  Center-back Cooper Ashcraft's clean clearance found TJ McCabe, who combined with Griffin Roach, who then set up Paul Corcoran- who calmly finished his chance making it 2-0 Bulldogs.   The Bulldogs kept control of the game for the next 15 before the visiting Panthers started pushing players forward and pressuring for the final 20 minutes of the game. But Canton was up for the challenge- bending but not breaking as they earned their first shutout of the season. 

Mike Mazzola, Avery Minkin, Nate Achildyev and Ashcraft were also critical in the clean sheet. 

The 'dogs have a busy week ahead as they host Stoughton on Monday at 3:45, travel to KP on Friday at 3:45 and travel to Foxboro on Saturday night at 7:00pm 

Come-From-Behind win and road loss to start off season

A Paul Corcoran goal with just 1 minute remaining in the game capped off a 4-3 come-from-behind win for the Bulldogs over visiting Marshfield on opening night- Wednesday, Sept. 5th- at Memorial Field.

The 'dogs found themselves down 2-0 at the half after some unfortunate bounces went Marshfield's way and found their way into the back of the Bulldog goal. Early in the 2nd half, Paolo Ruggeri scored on a direct free kick from about 30 yards out cutting the lead in half.  But ten minutes later, Marshfield once again took advantage of a Bulldog miscue to extend the lead to 3-1.  Just three minutes later, Griffin Roach calmly finished from the top of the box with his left foot to get the 'dogs right back in it. With just 6 minutes left and the team trailing by 1, Roach got on the end of a great ball by Simon Cruz to loft it over the Marshfield keeper to tie it up. And finally- with 1:10 left, Mike Mazzola played Paul Corcoran in behind the Marshfield's back and Corcoran calmly tucked it in past the goalie for the 4-3 win.

The Dogs were not able to keep the momentum going as they traveled to Attleboro Saturday night and despite playing some great soccer in the first half, came away with a 0-2 defeat. Attleboro came out playing much better in the 2nd half but the Bulldogs hung tough for most of the half- even missing some key chances of our own. But Attleboro would finally break down the Bulldogs backs late in the game scoring with nine minutes to go and again with four minutes to go.

Things don't get any easier for the Dogs this week as they travel to highly touted Foxboro on Wednesday night at 7:00 before hosting Franklin Friday night at 7:30pm.