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Giancola ties school record with nine goals as Canton defense looks sharp

Canton's Kaelyn Oliver, left, and Grace Giancola celebrate after the Warriors moved onto the semifinals following a 12-6 win over Weston Thursday.

Canton’s Kaelyn Oliver, left, and Grace Giancola celebrate after the Warriors moved onto the semifinals following a 12-6 win over Weston Thursday.

CANTON, June 9 – Junior Grace Giancola has certainly made her impact offensively for the Canton High girls lacrosse team. Giancola has scored 30 goals in the last four games, including a school record nine goals in Thursday’s 12-6 victory over Weston in the Class S quarterfinals.

But No. 4 Canton (16-3) also played well defensively, not allowing Weston to score a goal in the final 16:46 of the contest and limiting Weston’s top scorer – Taylor Moore – to just six shots and two goals. In Weston’s first tournament, Moore had eight goals and three assists.

Canton coach Sean Cole is pleased with the growth of his defense. Since dropping a 15-9 decision to Simsbury about three weeks ago, the Warriors have given up a total of 20 goals while scoring 59 in the process.

Cole knows that Canton will need to be able to play strong defense when they take on Old Lyme (19-1), the No. 1 seed in the Class S tournament on Tuesday in the semifinals. The time and location have yet to be announced. This will be Canton’s first-ever trip to the semifinals. Both teams will looking to secure their first appearance in the state championship game.

“They were great,” Cole said of his Warrior defense. “It’s been a work in progress, defense always is. Most teams play man to man but we can’t be afraid to try zone. Defense is what wins you hardware.

“We all know we can score. Are we committed to playing the type of defense that wins big games,” Cole said. “Most teams play man to man. We’ve been working on a zone defense with one person faceguarding their best player. Honestly, we’ll probably need to do that in our next game against Old Lyme.”

Senior goalie Amanda Gottlieb made 14 saves and Cole was concerned that was a lot of shots to stop. She made a season-high 15 saves in the 14-4 win over Immaculate in Canton’s first tournament contest.

Canton goalie Amanda Gottlieb and defender Devon Daubert defend in Thursday's Class S quarterfinal win over Weston.

Canton goalie Amanda Gottlieb and defender Devon Daubert defend in Thursday’s Class S quarterfinal win over Weston.

Giancola sparked the offense with nine goals, which tied her single game school record that she set on May 18 with nine goals against Watertown. Kaelyn Oliver had two goals for Canton, which led 6-4 at halftime. The Warriors extended the lead to four, 8-4, on two early goals from Giancola.

Weston cut the lead to two, 8-6 but Canton scored four unanswered goals beginning with a goal from Giancola with 13:13 remaining. Three goals from Emily Gabrielian, Oliver and Giancola in the final 3:27 iced the game for the Warriors. Giancola has now scored a school-record 101 goals on the season. 

Canton 12, Weston 6
At Canton
Weston (11-9)    4  2  — 6
Canton (16-3)    6  6  — 12
Goals: Grace Giancola (C) 9, Kaelyn Oliver (C) 2, Emily Gabrielian (C), Taylor Moore (W) 2, Caroline Anderson (W), Nicole Werner (W) 3; Assists: Amanda Gottlieb (C), Devon Daubert (C), Emma Charron (C) 2, Anderson (W), Saltzgarber (W); Saves: Amanda Gottlieb (C) 14, Olivia Ferdinard (W) 5

More Photos from John Fitts and the Canton Compass.

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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