Canton booters blank Bolton to grab a share of first NCCC title since 2002

Canton’s Spencer Mix, left, bears down on the ball during a recent win over Ellington. Mix leads the team with 25 goals.

It’s been 19 years since the Canton High boys soccer team won a share of the league championship. In 2002, the Warriors shared a piece of the North Central Connecticut Conference title with Avon.

Canton wasn’t going to let another opportunity slip away.

In a span of two days, the Warriors (12-4, 12-1 NCCC) outscored East Windsor and Bolton, 13-1, to win a share of the NCCC title with Suffield (15-1, 12-1). Canton throttled East Windsor on Monday by a 10-1 score and blanked Bolton, 3-0 on Tuesday at the turf field at the high school.

“They played very well,” Canton High coach Bill Phelps said. “They were so pumped up they destroyed one team. We were two men down (against East Windsor) and we still scored six goals in the second half.”

The Warriors learned a valuable lesson last Thursday in a 2-0 loss to East Hampton (7-5-2) at home.

“We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them,” Phelps said. “We had plenty of opportunities. It was a good loss in the fact that it showed we can lose. We have to be smarter on the field.”

Canton took out their frustration on East Windsor (6-10) with 10 goals – the most they’ve scored in a single game since beating Hartford Classical 10-1 in 2019. It’s just the second time in this century that  the Warriors scored ten goals in a single game.

Matt Schuman and Spencer Mix had two goals each while Ryan Weller, Thomas Gibbons, Miles Deiulis, Sam Lincoln, Brayden Antash, Charlie Ek and Ian Clarke each had single goals.

Against Bolton, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead at halftime and finished with their sixth shutout of the season and a share of the league championship.

Mix, who has a team-leading 25 goals this season, scored against the Bulldogs along with Weller, who scored his fourth of the second and his second in two days, and Clarke.

“This is the most talented team, most diverse team in terms of talent,” said Phelps, who has spent 33 years behind the bench in Canton. “No team has worked together as well as these kids have. They are really nice kids and they really like each other.”

While Mix has 25 goals and Miles Deiulis has 11 goals, no one else has more than five goals (Clarke). Fifteen different players have scored goals for Canton this season.

“They are just playing really well. They’re moving well. They’re listening in practice. These kids know how to play soccer,” Phelps said.

While this is Canton’s first NCCC title since 2002, it is the first league championship for Suffield since 2015. The Wildcats won five league titles in a row from 2011-15.

Suffield beat Canton, 1-0, on Sept. 14, in the second game of the season but the Wildcats dropped a 1-0 decision to Granby in late September to open up a door for the Warriors.

Canton will likely be a No. 8 seed when the CIAC’s Class S pairings are released later this week. The tournament begins on Saturday but Canton won’t likely play until Tuesday, Nov. 9 in the first round.

Canton 3, Bolton 0
At Canton
Bolton (8-6-2)                             0  0  — 0
Canton (12-4)                              2  1  — 3
Goals: Ryan Weller, Spencer Mix, Ian Clarke

Canton 10, East Windsor 1
At East Windsor (Nov. 1)
Canton (11-4)                               6  4  — 10
East Windsor (6-10)                   0  1  — 1
Goals: Matt Shuman 2, Spencer Mills 2, Ryan Weller, Thomas Gibbons, Miles Deiulis, Sam Lincoln, Braydon Antash, Charle Ek, Ian Clarke

2021 NCCC standings, boys soccer

Canton boys soccer most goals, single season

(a) Season is not complete.