Election Day turned into a landslide for Watertown Boys Soccer in their return to tournament play for the first time since 2019, with an impressive 3-0 blanking of St.Mary’s of Lynn.
Watertown, the 13 seed, moves on to the Round of 16. If 29th-seed Auburn can upset fourth seed Greater New Bedford on Thursday, Watertown will accept the nomination and play another home game. Otherwise, the Raiders will face the challenge of beating a top-four seed on the road, probably Monday or Tuesday. But those are matters for another day. Today was about stuffing the ballot box and meeting another goal in the season-long campaign to victory.
Watertown came out on fire Tuesday evening, controlling the play and the tempo while creating a number of good looks at the St. Mary’s goal. St.Mary’s leveled the playing field in the middle-third of the first half, and while not landing many shots on goalkeeper Delan Chapron, St.Mary’s had put the Raiders on their heels just a bit. But, with just over four minutes left in the half, Gavin Foley did his thing, and after some pretty dribbling fed Aidan Anker for the first goal of the game into a wide open left side of the net.
Sometimes this season, Watertown came out a tad flat to start second halves with a lead, but not Tuesday. Before one could say “Vote for Me” senior co-captain Evan Kurth took aim at the top, far corner of the net from a tough angle on his left wing, from about 20 yards out. It was a beautiful shot, and it was a goal, and it gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead. Not be outdone, senior Gavin Foley finished the scoring on the day with some exceptional individual effort, some guile, some skill and the touch of a goal-scorer, putting one inside the right post less than 15 yards out for his 17th goal of the season.
There’s inherent danger associated with rematches, which this game was. Back on Friday night Oct. 10, Watertown and St. Mary’s squared off at Victory Field. Watertown prevailed 4-2, but not before a lot of physical play was exchanged nor before the Raiders lost a 2-1 lead early in the second half, only to score two unanswered goals.
Would St. Mary’s be as physical as they were that Friday night? Would they double and/or triple-team Foley, who scored a hat trick that night? Would St.Mary’s win the vote this time around? No, no and no. Watertown had an answer for most everything St. Mary’s campaigned on, and left them no other choice but to concede.
Win the division. Check. Win on Senior Night. Check. Win on Soccer Night. Check. Get a home playoff game and win it. Check and check. A satisfying series of outcomes for sure, but don’t for a second think Watertown Boys soccer is content.
The backline of Shea, Marques, Shrestha and Brennock continues to shine. Galeano shined in the middle of the field Tuesday night. And forwards Hughes, Kurth, Anker and Salvi kept after it for 80 minutes. Now, the Raiders wait, practice, and work on an acceptance speech with regards to their next opponent. And then it’s about securing a win in the Round of 16, and moving on!
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1 2 – F
St.Mary’s 0 0 – 0
Watertown 1 2 – 3
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1st Half
Watertown 1 St.Mary’s 0… Aidan Anker from Gavin Foley @ 35:47
2nd Half
Watertown 2 St.Mary’s 0… Evan Kurth @ 1:08
Watertown 3 St.Mary’s 0… Gavin Foley @ 16:01