Rocks bury Cobras with fourth-quarter goal avalanche
Salem’s Ivan Volinski pursues Canton’s Nick Parrish during the second half of Wednesday’s KLAA match.
When Canton senior lacrosse player Chase Hodges lasered home a goal with 2:54 remaining in the third quarter Wednesday night, it was game on for the Cobras, who pulled to within 5-4 of rival Salem.
Instead of panicking, the Rocks maintained their composure and buried their cross-campus foes with a game-ending 5-0 run to earn an important 10-4 triumph.
The victory improved Salem’s overall record to 3-6 (according to klaaconferencesports.org). More importantly, it kept the Rocks’ hopes of winning a P-CEP championship alive.
If the Cobras (now 2-5) can upend Plymouth on May 7, all three Park teams would share 1-1 round-robin records, meaning the title will be determined by a goals-differential tie-breaker.
Cobras strike early
Canton bolted out of the gate against the Rocks, surging to a 2-0 lead in the opening four minutes thanks to back-to-back goals from Aiden Carroll.
Salem answered with three consecutive goals from Jacob Van Tol, Ben Smigell and Max Kehoe to grab a short-lived 3-2 halftime advantage.
Canton’s Nick Parrish deadlocked the game at 3-3 30 seconds into the third quarter with a goal assisted by Kyle Frew.
Third-quarter goals by Kehoe and Smigell within 90 seconds of one another helped Salem regain a 5-3 lead before Hodges’ net-finder, which turned out to be the last offensive gasp for Canton.
Van Tol was back-flippin’ good
Van Tol not only scored two of his team’s five final-period goals, he accentuated the second one with a crowd-pleasing back-flip.
Sam Libbing, Braden Martin and Kehoe also found the net in the fourth for the victorious Rocks.
Salem goalie Cole Payton was stellar in the fourth, registering a couple eye-popping saves.
Freshman goalie solid for three quarters
Canton freshman goalie Jakob Patterson was solid through the first 36 minutes before succumbing to the Rocks’ heightened pressure down the stretch.
The Rocks lost to Plymouth, 7-2, last month, so they hold a plus-one goal differential in their pair of Park match-ups.
The Wildcats are the defending P-CEP champions heading into Wednesday’s critical game against the Cobras.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
