Somers dominates league champion Canton to win NCCC Tournament

Somers’ Cooper Barrett (17) tries to get past Canton’s Luke DeRitis in Thursday’s NCCC Tournament championship game. More photos from the game

CANTON, May 26, 2022 – The Canton High boys lacrosse team captured their first North Central Connecticut Conference championship this spring by winning nine of 10 conference contests including a four-goal win over Somers in early May.

It was their second consecutive league championship for Canton (12-4, 9-1 NCCC). A year ago, the Warriors won the Central Connecticut Conference South title while teams from the NCCC played in the CCC as a result of an effort to help with scheduling of contests due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our team is extremely excited to win the NCCC,“ Canton High head coach Chris Weller said. “They put together a season-long effort only losing (in the league) to Somers. We’re really happy the way we performed (this season). On the offensive side and defensive side, our team has been spectacular.”

Somers (14-4, 8-2 NCCC) showed little respect for the Warriors.

The visiting Spartans scored the first three goals of the game the first 3½ minutes of the game and built leads as high as nine goals as Somers won their fifth straight NCCC Tournament championship with a dominating 16-11 win over Canton on Thursday night.

Tournament MVP Brian McGowan had a game-high eight goals and one assist while teammate Cooper Barrett had six goals and two assists. Somers’ Jack Benedict was dominant in the faceoff circle giving Somers plenty of possessions to keep the ball away from Canton’s high-scoring offense.

Canton cut the lead to one goal, 3-2, after one quarter but the Spartans scored the next seven goals to grab an 10-2 lead. At one point, McGowan scored four consecutive goals for the Spartans.

Somers’ Gavin Ravza (15) finds it tough to move near the Canton goal during Thursday’s NCCC Tournament final. More photos from the game

“(Canton) is a very good team and I know they can score very easily,” long-time Somers coach Ken McCarthy said. “The last time we were here, we couldn’t do anything right. Today, we just had a really good day and they struggled with some of their shots.”

“Our goalie (Liam Jones) was better than he was last time (against Canton),” McCarthy said. “Our defense was better than it was last time but they’re still a very good team and we’ll probably see them next Saturday it will be a close game.”

Should Canton and Somers win their first games in the CIAC Class S tournament next week, they will meet in the Class S quarterfinals.

Ryan Weller had four goals and two assists for the Warriors while Mark Freedenberg had three goals and one assist. Chris Gottlieb had three goals.

The Warriors were also hampered by penalties. They committed nine compared to one for Somers. “We were very disciplined with our sticks and our defense,” McCarthy said.

“It’s a sad day, a tough day for us,” Weller said. “We have to figure out how not to be down like that. They definitely got the best of us today.”

It was Canton’s first-ever appearance in the NCCC Tournament championship game. There was no season in 2020 due to COVID-19 and a hastily scheduled NCCC Tournament final between Canton and Somers a year ago was cancelled due to rain. The NCCC teams played in the CCC in 2021 but when the NCCC teams were not allowed to participate in the CCC divisional tournaments, the NCCC scheduled a two-team tournament in the season’s final weeks.

Somers won their fifth straight NCCC Tournament championship and played in the final for the eighth consecutive tournament. The Spartans won four straight from 2016-19. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic and the 2021 tournament was cancelled due to rain.

BOYS LACROSSE
Somers 16, Canton 11
At Canton
Somers (14-4)           3  4  6  3  — 16
Canton (12-4)           2  0  3  6  — 11
Goals: Brian McGowan (S) 8, Cooper Barrett (S) 6, Kalvin Long (S). Trent Beggs (S), Mark Freedenberg (C) 3, Ryan Weller (C) 4, Ryker Bahre (C), Chris Gottlieb (C) 3; Assists: Freedenberg, Weller 2, Bahre, Barrett 2, McGowan, Long; Saves: Liam Jones (S) 6; Niko Giotsas (C) 6

2022 NCCC Boys Lacrosse Tournament
Tuesday, May 24
Semifinal: Somers 19, Ellington 8
Thursday, May 26
Championship: Somers 16, Canton 11

2022 NCCC boys lacrosse standings

All-NCCC
Canton: Ryan Weller, Mark Freedenberg, Ryker Bahre, Chris, Gottlieb, Luke DeRitis
Ellington: John Hintze, Riley Giordano, Zachary Fox, Emil Johnson
Granby: Ben Gottsche
Rockville: Ashton Szrejna
Somers: Ryan Symington, Brian McGowan, Cooper Barrett, Jack Benedict, Luke Arnone, Trent Beggs