Granby continues dominating run with Class S semifinal win over Canton, 2-0

Canton’s Maggie Gibbons, left, tries to keep control of the ball in Tuesday’s Class S semifinal loss to Granby, 2-0. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

GRANBY, November 13 – The Granby Memorial field hockey team is back in the Class S championship game. The top-ranked Bears continued their dominating run in this year’s state tournament with a 2-0 victory over No. 13 Canton Tuesday night.

The Bears (18-1) outshot Canton, 15-2 and didn’t give up a penalty corner opportunity. Granby hasn’t allowed a goal in the state tournament, outscoring opponents by a 12-0 margin. In fact, the Bears have given up just four goals in 19 games this season.

On Saturday at Wethersfield High, Granby will face Immaculate-Danbury, which beat Stonington, 4-3 in overtime, in the Class S championship game. It will be the first-ever trip to the finals for Immaculate (20-1-0-1). This will be Granby’s 22nd state final with the Bears winning 13 and losing eight.

Granby last played in the Class S final in 2017 and their most recent state championship came in 2011.

Canton’s Poet Watson (24, right) battles for control of the ball in Tuesday night’s Class S semifinal in Granby. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Against Canton, the Bears took a 1-0 lead late in the first half with 48 seconds left on a goal from Mya Rivard with an assist from the stick of Aver Braynton. The Bears extended the lead to 2-0 on a goal from Julia Olchowski with 20:17 left in the game.

Canton (10-9) was looking to earn a trip to their first championship since 2007 but the Bears were too much. Canton had just two shots on goal.

After going 8-8 in the regular season, the Warriors had a nice tournament run upsetting No. 4 seed Westbrook, 2-0 and eliminating No. 5 seed Nonnewaug, 4-0. It was Canton’s first appearance in the semifinals since 2015.

The Bears have dominated Canton as of late. It was Granby’s 13th straight win over the Warriors, dating back to 2013. The Bears have won 27 of the last 28 matches between the two schools.

Granby beat Canton in the Class S tournament for the second year in a row. Last year, the Bears bounced Canton, 1-0 in the quarterfinals. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)