Watertown’s Fahad Khan won his Golden Gloves boxing match in Lowell the same month he won a high school wrestling title. (Photo by James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
Watertown’s Fahad Khan enjoyed a very successful winter, winning titles on the wrestling mat and in the boxing ring. The WHS senior competed on the Raiders wrestling team, with whom he won MIAA Div. 3 North Sectional championship in the 106 pound division in his second year of competition. He became the first wrestler in Watertown history to be a two time sectional champion.
Defending Power Play Senior Hockey League Champs, the Boston Gold Kings, will open the finals by hosting the Hudson Valley Reapers on Saturday, April 4 at 4 p.m. at John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown. The Reapers have taken the PPSHL by storm in their first year in the league, going 14-2 and finishing in first place. The Gold Kings, who won the 2025 championship, finished in second with a record of 8-6-2 (with two overtime losses). During the season series, the Reapers won the first three games by at least two goals, but the Gold Kings skated to victory in the final matchup. “The championship series is set, and we open against the Hudson Valley Reapers.
Repeat after me – “The Boston Gold Kings are Defending Champions … The Boston Gold Kings are Defending Champions.” It’s an exercise I imagine most defending champions undertake. It’s a challenge winning it all, and even more so to repeat.
The Gold Kings started slow last year, but got themselves together come the playoffs, culminating with a sweep of top-seed Salem in the Finals. This year the Gold Kings believe strongly that they are a better team with a deeper and stronger roster. This regular season ended with the Gold Kings as the 2-seed and Salem as the 3-seed. They were separated by one point, and they split their four regular-season games, each winning once at the other’s rink. In Games 1 and 2 they split — and, you guessed it, they each one at the other’s rink. And so, on Saturday night at the JAR, Game Three of the best of three would not only determine the season series, it would send one team to the Finals. Without further adieu, I introduce you to the Defending Champion Boston Gold Kings, a 6-3 winner and still alive to repeat as champions.
There are many “truths” in baseball, and there are two among many when it comes to early-season Spring baseball games. Truth number one? Quite often the weather will be more suited to Football season. Truth number two? Very rarely will games be “clean.” In other words, there will be errors and base-running gaffes and pitchers who have trouble finding the strike-zone, and on and on. Most high school teams get relatively very little time outside prior to the regular season beginning, and just as little actual game action. All that said, Saturday’s home opener was a pretty darn good baseball game for Game 1 of the season, and despite all the above happening, the Raiders swung the bat, played decent baseball overall and received two quality pitching performances on the way to a 9-7 non-league win versus Fitchburg.
The Boston Gold Kings will face the Salem Sasquatch in a winner-take-all Game 3 of of the PPSHL semifinal series on March 28. (Courtesy of the Boston Gold Kings)
It’s playoff-time in the Power Play Senior Hockey League (PPSHL), and while the league is still young, it’s never too soon for rivalries to form. Last season the number one seed at regular season’s end was the Salem Sasquatch. And when the semi-final results were in, and Salem and the Boston Gold Kings had earned a trip to the Finals, Salem was the favorite. But the Gold Kings won Game 1 on the road and blitzed the Sasquatch in Game 2 on home ice to win the title.
This year a new kid in town, the Hudson Valley Reapers, has steam-rolled the league with a 14-2 regular season record and they just swept the fourth-seed Holyoke Papermen to earn a trip to the Finals. In the meantime, the Gold Kings, seeded second, and Salem, seeded third, met this weekend in a best of three to earn the right to face Hudson Valley. The teams split the season series 2-2, with each winning once on the road. And so… We are heading to a Game 3 on Saturday night March 28 at 7:20 at the John A. Ryan Arena after Salem beat the Gold Kings Saturday night at the JAR in an overtime thriller, and the following afternoon the Gold Kings, with their backs against the wall, returned the favor with a 5-3 win at the ICenter in Salem, New Hampshire. GAME 1
Saturday night both goaltenders stood tall, Gold Kings goalie Mike Cowell and Salem goalie Keegan McLaughlin, and in the case of McLaughlin, he stood on his head as well, robbing the Gold Kings over and over and keeping the Sasquatch in the game. The Sasquatch scored first 5:08 into the game, off a Gold Kings turnover in their defensive zone. The Gold Kings are a good hockey team, probably better and deeper than last season, but the two biggest issues for them this season from the games I’ve seen have been own-zone play and taking too many penalties. Both came into play on this night.
That said, what turned out to be a back-and-forth affair with skating and forechecking and hitting and an intensity that you’d expect from a Game 1 in a best-of-three, the Gold Kins tied the game at 16:02 as defensive stud Ernie Isamatov, who was seemingly on the ice the entire game, sniped a wrister from the point that McGlaughlin might have been screened on. Two minutes, 38 seconds later first-line forward Cam Cordio, who assisted on the Isamatov’s goal, scored a pretty goal to give the Gold Knights the lead after one. Defenseman Shawn Savela sent a great pass from his own zone, off the boards, that Christian Baldino handled with flair. He attacked the zone, drew the defender, and fed Cordio who potted the go-ahead goal with a top-shelf wrister.
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 following announcement was provided by Watertown Youth Baseball & Softball:
Watertown Youth Baseball & Softball will hold an equipment sale on March 19 from 7-8:30 p.m. in KidConnect at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club (lower level). Proceeds benefit the WYBB League. Donate your gently used or worn baseball and softball equipment. Recommended items: gloves, cleats, batting gloves, bags/backpacks, pants, belts, and bats. Items must be washed and clean prior to drop off.
The Boston Gold Kings(BGK) entered their final game of the season feeling pretty good about themselves, entering the contest with second place locked up and having beaten first-place Hudson 6-3 just days earlier.
While Saturday night’s game versus Salem wouldn’t change the Gold Kings fate come the post-season, it was important to Salem. A win, and a loss by Holyoke versus Norfolk would assure Salem of third place and a match-up with the Gold Kings for a chance to make the Finals. A loss, and Salem would be relegated to the play-in game versus last-place Norfolk and a potential date with Hudson, who finished the season 14-2. Following along? Well, this tale has two parts — part one is a flat game by the Gold Kings that resulted in a 3-2 Salem win.
The Watertown Recreation Department provided the following announcement:
Please fill out our Interest Survey
Watertown Recreation is exploring the possibility of launching a Youth Travel Field Hockey Team to join the Baystate Youth Field Hockey League in the Fall of 2026. Before moving forward, we’d like to gauge interest from families in the community. Your feedback will help us determine whether this program is viable. Proposed Program Structure
Grades 1–4
1 Practice Per Week
Sunday Morning Games (8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)
Grades 5–8
2 Practices Per Week
Sunday Morning Game (8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)
Estimated Cost: $150–$190 per playerhttps://forms.gle/7XhhAJhqNqqyqSxq7
