Another beautiful Fall day at Victory Field brought out some lovely play from the Raiders field hockey team on Oct. 23, as they thoroughly controlled this game from start to finish, winning their final regular season home game 7-0. Just a minute in a wicked slapper from 15 yards out by Kaylee Master made it 1-0. Less than three minutes later senior co-captain Sophia Setouhi, who was flying around the field on this day, made it 2-0 after some nifty moves. Freshman Lola Venezia finished the first period scoring on a rebound shot that got past the Burlington goalkeeper to make it 3-0 after one period. Now, it should be said that the Burlington goalie was impressive throughout the half, coming aggressively out of her goalie crease, anticipating plays and trying to cut off angles to potential shots on goal.
Thank you. Thanks for your dedication to the program. Thanks for contributing to four straight State titles. That’s what Thursday was about as Watertown’s Field Hockey program recognized their seniors prior to taking on Arlington at Victory Field. This year’s roster has only two seniors, co-captains Ava Lamacchia and Sophia Setouhi. Ava plays defense and Sophia is a forward, and like so many others who have passed through the program in recent years, they have contributed in so many ways, and enjoyed the ultimate fruits of their labor — championships. This season has been a bit different than recent years, if for no other reason than the Raiders have lost — twice. But, their ultimate fate is far from being determined, and Coach Donahue will make sure each player gets the best out of themselves. On this day, Watertown was clearly the best team, as they controlled the play from start to finish, never allowing a shot on freshman goalie Natalia Keuchkarian. What the Raiders did do is pressure the Arlington goalie. And, as has been the case in one or two other games this season, an opposing goalie stood on her head, making save after save, some of the spectacular variety, and that kept the final score at a modest 4-0.
The following announcement was provided by Westfield State Athletics:
Earlier this week, Westfield State first-year forward Caroline Andrade (Watertown, Mass./Watertown HS) was named as the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s national Offensive Player of the Week for NCAA Division III for the week ending October 5. Andrade tallied five goals and three assists in a 3-0 week for the Owls, and has been a major factor in the Owls current eight-game winning streak. “I was excited,” said Andrade, on learning of the award. “But I think it’s’ really about the team connecting, more of a team effort and seeing passes.”
Andrade missed the first six games of the 2025 season for the Owls when an injury she suffered during high school basketball flared up before the start of the season. Andrade came off the bench in her first two games in the lineup for the Owls, scoring shootout in a overtime win against Johnson and Wales before being inserted into the starting lineup. “I was a little rough and rusty at first, and it was difficult not knowing exactly how my teammates played even though I had been watching all season,” said Andrade.
Friday afternoon’s contest was the last of five straight home games for the Raiders before they go on the road next week. On an absolutely beautiful Fall afternoon, Watertown hosted Reading, who was in third place in the Liberty Division. The Raiders started the day in first place in the Freedom division at 4-0, and remain in first at 5-0, but it wasn’t easy. Reading looked like the road team in the first period, as in they arrived late because of Friday traffic, were allotted 15 minutes to stretch and warmup, and then the game began. Watertown won the first period in every way — except on the scoreboard, where it remained 0-0 after one period. Reading barely crossed midfield, the Raiders had all the scoring chances and were awarded six penalty corners because of the constant pressure they put on Reading. A bit of a bug-a-boo this season, though, Watertown could not convert on any of the six PC’s.
Reading got their bearings in the second and finally put some pressure on Watertown, albeit in drips and drops. In the meantime, Watertown continued to force the play. Gianna Venezia and Kaylee Master were especially active, and seemingly always around the ball. Finally, with 7:40 left till the half, Watertown’s pressure led to a scrum in front of the net, and finally Avangaline Anderson was able to put the ball in the cage and give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Freshman goalie Natalia Keuchkarian was certainly not busy, but was called upon to make one tough play when a ball came at her awkwardly and with a a big bounce. She played it aggressively and decisively punched the ball out of harms way with her blocker. Late in the period a wild scrum occurred in front of the Watertown goal. Keuchkarian came out to cut off an angle on a potential scoring chance, but the ball squirted around, Watertown defense scrambled to cover the goal while the goalie worked to get back in position, and somehow, Watertown avoided giving up a goal, as well any violations from the ref. Now, you would have bet dollars to doughnuts that Watertown would figure out how to add to the lead in the second half, but it was Reading who applied the early pressure. After that, both teams kind of lulled for awhile, and then Watertown got their game back and applied more pressure. That led to four more penalty corners, but none led to a score.
Watertown’s schedule has allowed them to play nothing but home games of late, and that continued versus Melrose. This game was a one-sided affair that Watertown led from start to finish. Avangeline Anderson netted 5 goals today to lead the way for Watertown. Watertown peppered the Melrose goalie early and often, and she had trouble controlling rebounds, and her defense wasn’t very helpful when it came to clearing the ball. Anderson was always in position and scored a number of her goals off rebounds, her stick ready to knock the ball in the cage. Anderson scored two in the first period, one in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth. Kaylee Master had three goals of her own, Aisling Brennock two and Sophia Setouhi and Katelyn O’Connor each contributed one. Unofficial totals had Watertown with at least 25 shots on net to only three for Melrose. The interesting storyline for me is the simple fact that Watertown scored 12 goals — or more specifically they were allowed to score 12 goals. Now look, what I know about field hockey is next to nothing. It has been fun and an honor to cover Watertown Field Hockey the past few years. They work hard, they play hard, and the deserve all the accolades they receive.
So, by watching their games, you come to learn some things. One thing I’ve learned is that when Watertown gets up by seven goals they shut it down, so to speak. They stop taking shots on goal. They stop even taking the ball towards the goal. Today, they went up 6-0.
Watertown Field Hockey expects to be the best. They practice hard. They train and play year-round. They have a legendary coach in her 40th year who cares about her players, cares about teaching the sport, but also cares about teaching life-lessons. So, while no one feels sorry for Watertown after they lost for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday, players were certainly eager to learn from the loss and move on towards their ultimate goal — another State title. Watertown did just that Thursday afternoon, shutting out Wakefield 8-0. The first half was played under a steady rain, but didn’t cause much in the way of slipping or errant play. Watertown controlled the action, but just couldn’t find the back of the cage. The Raiders were even awarded a penalty stroke (aka, penalty shot), but Kaylee Master was stonewalled by the Wakefield goaltender.
Coaches often speak in cliches. Kids gave it their all… Every game is a big game… We learned a lot about ourselves tonight… and so on. All those cliches would be true after tonight’s non-league game between Somerset Berkley and Watertown at Victory Field. Watertown came into the game as four-time defending Division 3 Champs, 6-0 in 2025 and on a 103 undefeated streak spanning more than five seasons. Somerset came into the contest with one loss and a title, having won the Division 2 State title in 2024. Something had to give on a warm and muggy third night of Fall. What everyone in attendance was treated to was an exciting and hard-fought high school athletic contest, one that reminded one and all why athletic competition can be so cool, so fun, and so heartbreaking. Is it really fair to characterize tonight’s loss as heartbreaking when you haven’t lost in 103 straight games? Sure. Competition is competition, streak or no streak, and Watertown’s squad left it all out there on the field tonight. By the end of the game, co-captain’s Ava Lamacchia and Sophia Setouhi were fighting leg cramps, for example. And you know what, the challenge of this evening seemed to me to be simply wanting to beat a Div.
Of Watertown’s first five games this Fall, only one was at home, back on Sept. 9th. It was a classic though, as Watertown edged Belmont 2-1 to reach the century mark undefeated for the second time in the program’s illustrious history. Thursday, on a beautiful and warm late-summer day, the Raiders played the first of five straight at home against the 0-3-3 Spartans. Watertown was looking to go to 6-0 on the young season. Coach Donahue’s squad did what it so often does — win — by completely controlling this game. Final score, Watertown 5 Stoneham 0.
