Canton girls qualify for state tournament with 4th straight win

The Canton High girls soccer team has won four straight games and has qualified for the Class S tournament.

CANTON, Oct. 25 – Seth Korn, Canton’s first-year girls soccer coach, will be looking for a good hair stylist in the next day or so. He has a promise to keep.

The coach promised his team that if they qualified for the Class S tournament for the first time since 2011, he would get a Mohawk hair cut. His Warriors earned their invitation to the state tournament Saturday night with a 2-0 victory over Hartford’s Sport Medicine Science Academy under the lights on the turf field.

Canton (6-8-2, 4-8-2 NCCC) needed at least a tie to qualify for the Class S tournament. They got the victory with two goals from leading scorer sophomore Sophia Langou, who has nine goals on the season and seven in the past four games. Emily Mitchell and Chloe Gucciardi had the assists.

Canton’s Katie Walker (11) races up field with SMSA’s Emma Ahmetone (26) trying to slow her down.

The Warriors have won their last four games and have outscored SMSA, Stafford, Somers and New Britain-based Medical Profession and Teacher Preparation Academy (MPTP) by a combined score of 12-0. Goalie Amanda Gottlieb has pitched four shutouts. She had 12 saves on Saturday

“The girls have played hard all year long,” Korn said. “We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve made (the state tournament) and that is a great accomplishment for this program. This was a great win for us.”

The Tigers came into the match with five victories and were quick and aggressive. But Canton was able sustain good pressure throughout the match. SMSA goalie Alyssia Milardo made 16 saves.

The contest was Canton’s regular season finale and part of the annual night soccer doubleheader, which was sponsored by the Canton High Booster Club. It was Canton’s first win under the lights at home since 2008 when they beat Stafford, 3-0.

The Warriors will open play in the Class S tournament on either Saturday, Nov. 1 or Tuesday, Nov. 4.