The Boston Gold Kings will host the Salem Sasquatch in Game 1 of the PPSHL playoffs on March 21 at Ryan Arena. (Courtesy of the Boston Gold Kings)
The Boston Gold Kings bring their own form of March Madness to Watertown on Saturday night as the defending champs play Game 1 of the PPSHL playoffs. The series is a rematch of the 2025 PPSHL Finals, with the second seeded Gold Kings facing third seeded Salem Sasquatch. Both teams finished the regular season with 8-8 records, and they split the season meetings 2-2. The Gold Kings are led by Cam Cordio who has 15 goals and 9 assists, while Matt Baldino added 10 goals and Ernie Isamatov added 45 points.
The Watertown High School cheerleaders won the Winter North Small Co-ed Championship. (Photo by Watertown Cheerleading)
Watertown High School’s Cheerleaders claimed a championship at the Winter North Regional Cheerleading Championship in Billerica on March 1. The Raiders were crowned 2026 Winter North Small Co-ed Champions after what coach Stephanie Owens called “an incredible performance.” “This is the second Championship they have won in two years,” Owens said. “They also placed second at the Fall North Regional Cheerleading Championship.”
Watertown senior Jimmy Strestha claimed his 100th career win at the All-State Meet in Springfield. (Courtesy of Watertown Athletics)
A pair of Watertown wrestlers faced the Bay State’s best in the All-State Meet in Springfield on Sunday, and one picked up a milestone win. Senior Jimmy Strestha won his first consolation match in the 132 pound division with a technical fall to join a select few in the Raiders’ wrestling program, said Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo. “Jimmy got his 100th win there, becoming only the 4th wrestler in program history to do so,” Russo said. Another senior, Fahad Khan, also claimed a win at the MassMutual Center in the 106 pound bracket.
The Boston Gold Kings have two more regular season home games at the John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown, and each one has a theme. The first is Youth Hockey Night, and the second is a Puck Cancer fund raiser. See details provided by the Gold Kings, below. Sunday, March 1 – Youth Hockey NightWe’ll be recognizing local youth hockey organizations and celebrating the next generation of players. Any youth player who wears their hockey jersey to the rink will receive free admission.
Isaac Maillis and the Raiders will face Shawsheen Valley Tech in the State Tournament on Thursday. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)
Two Watertown High School squads will play in the winter State Tournaments, with the boys hockey team skating on Thursday girls basketball team playing Friday. The boys hockey team faces Shawsheen Valley Tech on Feb. 26 at 7:10 p.m. at Hallenbourg Ice Rink in Billerica. The Raiders (3-17) are the 28th seed, while Shawsheen (17-2-1) is the fifth seed.
Watertown seniors Jimmy Shrestha, left, and Fahad Khan both finished fourth in their divisions at the MIAA Div. 3 State Wrestling Championships. (Courtesy of Watertown Athletics)
Watertown’s Jimmy Shrestha and Fahad Khan will compete with the top wrestlers from across Massachusetts after both placed fourth at the MIAA Div. 3 State Meet in Gloucester on Saturday. Both seniors placed among the highest finishes in the State Meet in Watertown history, said Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo.
The Boston Gold Kings (BGK), coming off a tough road loss back on Feb. 7th, put together a strong and disciplined effort on Valentine’s Day night in front of their home crowd, running away with a 9-4 win. Nine different Gold Kings littered the scoresheet and Goalie Mike Cowell, while maybe not as a sharp as some previous games, was still there when needed to post the win. The Gold Kings move to 7-5-0-2 on the season and with two games remaining in the regular season hold a 4-point lead over third place Holyoke. The Gold Kings got off to a great start when Nick McNally, flying down the right side and going upstairs with a wrister, made it 1-0 1:38 into the first period. But last-place Norfolk, with only two wins on the season, found their skating game and put two past Cowell 10 minutes apart to take the lead 2-1 for the one and only time on the night. The Gold Kings righted the ship with a huge goal with a minute forty one left in the period off the stick of fourth-line Center Mike Delisio to tie it two. Delisio and McNally both had excellent nights and were named two of the three stars post-game. One of the bugaboos for the defending champion Gold Kings this season has been a lack of disciplined hockey at times. Whether taking silly penalties or failing to clear the zone or missed assignments, their game has not always been as clean as they would like it to be. On this night, though, the Gold Kings looked much sharper and in control. Second period goals by M. Baldino, Drizen and Cebula paved the way for a third period explosion, as the Gold Kings simply wore down the Mallards. Despite being a last-place team, Norfolk could skate, but they were vulnerable with ever other aspect of their game, and the Gold Kings took advantage. Goal-scorers Forte, Carta, DiCostanzo and Smith made sure of it after a pretty quiet start to the third period. But once the clock hit 8:54, it was all Gold Kings till the final whistle. Final score, Gold Kings 9 Mallards 4.
Watertown/Wayland’s 2026 regular season came to a close Wednesday with a non-league contest versus Dover-Sherborn/Weston(DSW). The game also served as Senior Night as six young men were recognized before the game for their contribution to the program. Once the game began, one and all were treated to an entertaining affair that saw the Raiders (DSW are the Raiders as well, but for this article, only Watertown is the Raiders) take the early lead and once again play a bigger, stronger, faster team (and D2 as well) pretty evenly. It was a 2-1 game DSW late into the second period, but a DSW goal with 30 seconds remaining made it 3-1 after two. That score swelled to 6-2 DSW by game’s-end, but the Raiders kept competing right up to the final whistle.
Seniors Ryder Barenholtz, Odarjyo Cook, Matthew Wheeler, Griffin Wood, Liam McIsaac and Kingston Omolade were introduced as the starting lineup on this night, a nice touch by Head Coach John Vlachos. For goalie Liam McIsaac, it was a chance to see some action as junior Finnley MacDonald has seen most of the time in net this season. McIsaac did himself proud, making a number of Grade A saves and only surrendering one goal before being relieved by MacDonald half way through the first period. Wayland Senior Griffin Wood, a first-line winger all season long, got the scoring going for a team short on goal-scoring all season. He rambled down the right wing and put a shot on DSW goalie William Goldstein, a shot that wasn’t blistering but nonetheless on net and hard for him to handle: 2:29 in on Senior Night Watertown/Wayland had the lead. DSW tied it four and a half minutes late, but the Raiders, despite being outshot and defending their zone more then they would have liked, were right there with DSW after one period.
Jirat Saengthong of Watertown set a new standard at Bridgewater State in the 200 freestyle during the Little East Conference Championships in Wellesley on Feb. 14. The junior finished second with a time of 1:45.80, eclipsing the previous BSU record of 1:46.39 set by Jameson Rose in 2017. He improved his personal best by 0.82 seconds, and the performance was one of three school records set by Bridgwater State swimmers that day. Saengthong also finished second in the 100 individual medley with a time of 54.71 on Sunday.
