Franklin Tops Stoughton High Hockey Team

The season is winding down for the Stoughton High School Boys’ Hockey team, as they finished Hockomock League play Thursday night, hosting a make-up game against high-powered Franklin, at the Asiaf Rink in Brockton.

The Panthers, along with Mansfield and Canton are the elite teams in the league and either one of them could capture the Division-2 State Title.

Although, Franklin dominated the contest territorially, the game remained in doubt until midway through the final period. The Panthers, leading 3-1, scored two goals in less than two minutes, to go on to take a 5-1 victory. Franklin improved its overall record to 11-3-1 with four games remaining.

It was the eighth consecutive defeat for the Black Knights, who now drop to 3-13-1 overall, 2-9-1 in the Hockomock league and 1-5-0 in the Davenport Division (small schools).

“We’re tough to defend when we’re going good because we not only have three good lines, but they are very balanced,” said Franklin coach Chris Spillane. “Our opponents can’t key on just one player when we have as many as four players with twenty or more points. We’re deep in goal and on defense, as well, but we have to continue to play hard and generate more quality chances on offense to be successful in the (post-season) tournament.”

“We hung in there against a very tough opponent just like we did against Mansfield and both games against Canton, but it’s the same old story,” said Stoughton coach Dan Mark. “We’re outmanned and playing against very high quality opponents. We continue to do the best we can and that’s all we can ask our players to do.”

Stoughton was again undermanned with injuries, but had some bright spots to take from the game. Freshman goaltender Paul Sheehan, in only his second start, was outstanding, saving 46 of 51 shots.

Senior captain and defenseman Jordan Ricci logged an incredible amount of ice time and played a very strong game leading the blueline corps. Stoughton’s three forward lines, featuring only one senior, played well and continued to display great potential for next season.

Stoughton’s lone goal came in the first period by sophomore Phil Falkof. Falkof, the team’s leading scorer, netted his 14th goal in his 15th game this season.  His goal was unassisted, cutting the Panthers lead to 2-1 to end the first period. Franklin had jumped ahead with two goals by Mark Teehan, earlier in the period.

Franklin put in the lone goal of the second period when Thomas Carlow scored midway through to give Franklin a 3-1 lead. The Panthers added a pair of third period goals by Nick Bertoni (two assists) and Alex Taddeo to account for the final score.

Franklin outshot Stoughton 19-6 in the first period, 17-2 in the second period, and 15-2 in the third period, for a total of a 51-10 shots on net advantage throughout the contest.

Stoughton had a handful of scoring chances, with two breakaways and three power plays, but couldn’t convert on any of them. Franklin had one power play goal in only two chances.

Stoughton next plays King Philip, from the Kelly-Rex (large schools) Division, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Asiaf Rink in Brockton, in a non-league Hockomock Crossover game. Both teams finished in third place in their respective divisions of the Hockomock League.

The Black Knights will conclude their season at the Bourne Tournament, at the Gallo Arena on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, playing the host team and then either Westfield or Dartmouth.

SCORING:

1st period:

Franklin-Mark Teehan from Nick Bertoni at 3:06

Franklin-Mark Teehan from Nick Bertoni and James Marchand at 7:15

Stoughton-Phil Falkof (Unassisted) at 7:44

 2nd period:

Franklin-Thomas Carlow from Keith Mackay at 7:40

 3rd period:

Franklin-Nick Bertoni from Justin Magerman at 5:04

Franklin-Alex Taddeo (Unassisted) Power Play at 6:51