Lessons learned on a snowy night last season paying off for the undefeated Canton field hockey team
CANTON – Ellie Bahre had never felt like this before. She had missed a penalty stroke, it was snowing, it was cold and the Canton field hockey team had just lost in the Class S semifinals to Stonington.
“I think I’ll be old and I will never ever, ever forget – I’ll tell my kids and my grandkids,” said Bahre, a senior midfielder from Canton. “It’s like you learn so many lessons from that – resilience, to stay strong, be tough, don’t give up, not everything goes your way and you have to bounce back from it and do better.”
Canton may have lost that game, nine seniors and its entire forward line and defense to graduation, but the seniors who returned took that loss to heart and worked that much harder this season.
As a result, the Warriors just finished the regular season 16-0, the first unbeaten regular season since 1991-92, back in the heyday of Canton field hockey, when the Warriors won their second of six Class S titles in the 90s.
“From the outside, it looks surprising, but talking to my other captain, Ellie, and Coach (Margaret) Bristol through the summer and the fall, we knew we were going to be a good team,” senior center midfielder Erin Mackin said. “We just had to capitalize on it.”
They all think about the 2-1 overtime loss to Stonington last Nov. 15.
“Our goal is to not repeat that this year,” Mackin said. “We’re going as far as we can.
“It’s something people still talk about, the seniors especially. We’re like, ‘We can’t end on that this year.’”
The game was tied at 1 and went into overtime. A freak snowstorm moved in quickly and blanketed the turf and the officials had to switch the game ball to an orange one because they couldn’t see the white one. The ball didn’t move on the turf like it normally would because of the snow on the field and both teams struggled with that.
Canton had 12 penalty corners (to Stonington’s two) but did not capitalize. (Note: The Warriors have practiced penalty corners a lot this season.)
After the second overtime, the score was still tied and now it was time for strokes. Stonington had an aggressive goalkeeper, Madi Allard, who made 19 saves against Canton. In a penalty stroke situation, the keeper is allowed to come out and go after the scorer. That’s what she did to Bahre, who leads the team in scoring this season with 18 goals.
“I had a chance (to score) and I did not,” Bahre said. “I got taken out by the goalie, I tripped and I went on the ground. The ball rolled out of bounds.”
The score was still tied after the first round of penalty strokes – 2-2. Now it was sudden death and each team got a chance. Canton missed. Stonington scored.
“It went back and forth, and they got us,” Bahre said. “My heart broke; it just shattered.”
But out of that cold snowy night at Wethersfield High came resolution and determination for the returning seniors.
Now they are the second seed in Class S (defending champion North Branford is the top seed), heading into the state tournament. Canton hasn’t won a state title since 1999. Canton will play its first round game Tuesday at home against an opponent to be determined.
“I definitely thought it was going to be completely different from last year,” junior goalkeeper Lyla O’Connor said. “We put in a lot of effort last year, but this year is a whole nother level. We worked so hard.”
Even Bristol was surprised.
“I had high expectations for this team and I knew they could rise to the challenge but I never expected them to go 16-0 in the regular season,” she said. “It’s awesome.”—
Unbeaten Canton Field Hockey Team: Lessons Learned and Undefeated Season
