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. After three periods on a warm afternoon, Watertown maintained their 1-0 lead, all while outshooting Reading 7-3 (unofficially).
The fourth period was absolutely nail-biting time. Reading picked up their pace, Watertown seemed tired and/or tentative, and uncharacteristically on their heels. Reading, of course, was also behind and had to do something to create opportunities to tie the game. Watertown couldn’t control the ball for very long, and Reading was anticipating passing lanes and forcing the play. As the 15 minute period tick-tocked away, Reading tried, but without much luck, to put quality shots on Keuchkarian. That is, until about 3 minutes remained. Out of nowhere, from about 25 yards out and with clean line to the cage, Reading sent a scorcher towards the Watertown goalie. What happened next is simply the save that saved the win. Keuchkarian was totally ready and made a beautiful kick save and made a rebound elusive for the Reading player camped by the goal.
It is not hyperbole to say it was a game-winning save by the Freshman. It’s a team game though, and even though Watertown wasn’t at their best in the fourth period, Tyler Foley and Ava Lamacchia had big plays of their own, thwarting potential threats with really difficult yet clutch plays. Watertown was able to finally move the ball to Reading’s side of midfield in the final two minutes, and run out the clock and give Watertown the win. They move to 9-1 on the season, Reading falls to 6-3-2.
This is a different season to date for Watertown Field Hockey. The record is impressive and they should be proud of what they’ve accomplished, but they are a smidge less dominant than recent teams. There’s no shame in that, especially as the current team always bears the burden of being compared to previous squads. Ultimately, there’s no reason to believe they can’t run the table despite a number of close calls among that 9 and 1 record. It’s a young team, with only two seniors and four juniors, but six sophomores and three freshman. There are still seven games to be played, and again, the Raiders are 9-1, and ranked fourth in the State!
Next home game for Watertown is Monday, October 13th.
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Scoring Summary
2nd Period
7:40… Watertown 1 Reading 0… Avangaline Anderson
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1 2 3 4 F
Reading 0 0 0 0 0
Watertown 0 1 0 0 1