WHS Sports: Boys' Lacrosse Wins First Ever Tourney Game; Baseball, Softball Prepare Tourney

The Watertown boys' lacrosse team traveled to Southeast Massachusetts and came away with a 12-9 win over host Fairhaven, Tuesday afternoon, in the preliminary round of the MIAA Div. 2 East Section Tournament.

Here is Bob Johnson's account of the game:

History was made Tuesday night, but it didn’t come easy. Like most things worth fighting for, the first ever Watertown High School boy’s lacrosse team MIAA Div. 3 (East) tournament win took tremendous effort, a lot of skill, and a little luck. But in the end, the 23^rd seeded Raiders' 12-9 win over the 10th seeded Fairhaven Blue Devils was well worth the 90 minute drive to and from the home of our southern neighbors on the door to the Cape. 

The first quarter was a struggle for the Raiders, who were playing their first game in a week and only their second game all season on a natural grass field. Senior co-captain Michael Busconi (3 goals, 2 assists) and Junior Matt Johnson (1G, 3A) found the back of the net to help settle down the visitors and tie the pumped-up hosts 2-2. (The Blue Develis) hit two posts in the opening 12 minute stanza. 

In the second quarter, the underclassmen got involved in the offense, and the Raiders defense began to clamp down on the Blue Devil’s leading scorer. Freshman Anthony Busconi (3G, 1A) and sophomore Matt Donnell (2G, 2A) began to exploit weaknesses in the defense to help build a 5-3 Raider lead at the break. During this 12 minute frame, senior defenseman and co-captain Ben Sampson displayed why he was selected as a Middlesex League All-Star by totally clamping down on Fairhaven’s leading scorer, who netted an amazing 90 goals this season. 

Assistant Coach Mike Forgione was “impressed by the way Ben handled his match up against their top scorer, shutting him down for much of the game. It represented well the impact he has had on opposing offenses all season.” 

By the end of the third frame the Raiders built a precarious 8-5 lead. After some back and forth scoring opportunities, the highlight goal of the game came off the slick stick of junior Joe Farrar, who buried one off of a quick end to end breakout play set up by a stunning stick save by senior goalie and co-captain Justin Pelletier (12 saves). Led by senior co-captain Dino Flori (1G, 2A) the offense finally came to life and built a 12-7 lead with just a few minutes remaining. 

From there, the game was in the hands of face-off specialists junior Dan Loprete, who won 13-17 while contributing 11 ground balls, and sophomore Luke Leitner, who won 5-6. The Blue Devils added 2 late goals in garbage time, but their 17-1 season was over. Watertown’s man-down defense was a key contributor all day, as it killed off 5 of 7 penalties. One other major factor in the game was the Raider’s outstanding conditioning, which clearly showed late in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils had problems keeping up with the pace of play of the Raiders. 

Watertown advances to play Archbishop Williams on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Memorial Field, on Storrs Avenue in Braintree. The No. 7 seeded Bishops defeated North Shore Tech 21-2, and improved to 18-3.

Baseball and Softball Make the State Tourney

The Watertown High School baseball team returns to the MIAA Div. 3 North Section Tournament, and will travel to Haverhill to face Whittier Tech on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Raiders finished .500 this season, with a 10-10 record, and earned the 13th seed in the North Section. The Wildcats got the No. 4 seed with a record of 16-4.

The Raiders softball team got into the tournament with a 2-18 record based on the rule that allows a team to get a postseason berth if it has a winning record against teams in its own division.

Watertown received the 24th seed in the MIAA Div. 3 North Section Tournament and heads to Newton to play Mt. Alvernia on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. Mt. Alvernia got the 9th seed with a record of 13-7. The teams met twice this season, with the Raiders winning 8-6 on the road, while losing 6-4 at home.

Track Teams Send Athletes to All-State Meet

After a successful MIAA Div. 4 Track Meet, the Raiders will send several athletes to compete in the All-State Track & Field Championships Saturday at Fitchburg State.

The girls 4 x 100 relay team of Talia Flores, Meaghan Kelly, Lauren Basile and Christelle Madou will test itself against the best sprinters in the state. The Raiders relay is seeded fourth, behind Brockton, Somerville and Newton North.

Flores will also run the 200 meters. She placed third in that race at the Div. 4 State Meet. Kelly's fourth place finish in the 100 hurdles at the Div. 4 State Meet earned her a chance to compete in the event at the All-State Meet.

The boys 4 x 800 team is coming off a victory at the Div. 4 State Track Meet. The foursome of Kevin Eskici, Alex Ambila, Emilio Alvarez and Ethan LeClair is seeded 16th at the All-State Meet.

Alvarez will also compete in the 400 hurdles, a race in which he placed fourth at the Div. 4 State Meet.