Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boys Hockey Brings Their A-Game And Almost Pulls Off a Big Upset 

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Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the John A. Ryan Arena, with Watertown/Wayland Raiders Hockey in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, one and all were treated to an excellent hockey game. Watertown/Wayland was faced with the challenge of trying to end the losing streak against the Winchester Red & Black, ranked 14th in the Boston Globe Top 20 as of last week and fresh off a big win at Belmont. 

On top of that, Watertown/Wayland was facing an excellent goalie, Senior Macklin O’Flynn, the 6’3″, 190 pound lefty. And aside from a seven goal shellacking at the hands of top-3 Hingham a few weeks back, Winchester had given up only 12 goals in 8 games. On this afternoon, though, the Raiders gave a great effort and deserved a better fate than a 3-2 defeat. The first period highlighted the fact that the Raiders top line of Center Lukas Wynn and Forwards Luke Egan and Griffin Wood can play with anyone.  These three are tired young men at the end of most games, as their ice time is double or more than the other two lines combined.  And after a Winchester goal by Leo Dagostino gave the Red & Black a 1-0 lead, the Raiders top line line came through seven minutes later to tie it at one.  Griffin Wood, positioned perfectly to the right of goalie O’Flynn, knocked home a rebound created by some nifty play from Luke Egan.  

Recent home games have found the Raiders in a hole and trailing by two or three goals after one period, so the 1-1 score was refreshing and certainly must have given the Raiders some confidence going into the second period. And look, you don’t get awarded a goal for simply winning the period, but Watertown/Wayland was the better team in period number two, and even had the better scoring chances. 

The only penalty of the game was called in the second, a two minute roughing call (can you say cheap shot?) administered by Winchester’s Caiden Brady on Lukas Wynn. Wynn had trouble getting up and after being examined by the trainer had to be helped off the ice by two of his teammates as he couldn’t put weight on his right leg. Watertown executed a solid power play which included a few testers on O’Flynn, but they couldn’t score. More importantly, though, what looked like perhaps a serious injury to first-line forward Wynn was miraculously not, as he started the third period between his first-line mates Egan and Wood. The third period started pretty evenly with the score still knotted at 1, but senior Axel Osborn changed that when he hammered home a third rebound attempt top-shelf over a beleaguered Raiders goalie Findlay MacDonald. It should be noted that MacDonald was once again excellent in net, and made three excellent saves at close range in this exchange, but no one was able to clear the rebound and Osborn’s special shot made it 2-1 Winchester three minutes into the third. A little over three minutes later Caiden Brady made it 3-1, and thoughts of a magical third period, a first win in a month and an upset of a ranked opponent seemed to have faded faster than a Drake May strike into the end zone for a touchdown. But, oh, thee of little faith. On this day the Raiders had a response. A team that had scored only 16 goals in 11 games leading into today, made it 3-2 just over a minute later thanks to the first line once again. Luke Egan got the goal, with assists from his linemates Wood and Wynn. All three deserve a start of the game! So, with 8 minutes gone and only 7 remaining, could Watertown/Wayland come up with the equalizer and send this game to overtime?

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boys Hockey Struggles Against Melrose

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It was matinee-Saturday at the John A. Ryan Arena as Watertown/Wayland and Melrose faced off with a 12:30 p.m. puck drop. Watertown/Wayland, in the midst of 7 of 8 at home, was obviously eager (desperate?!) to get off to a good start and put together a 45 minute game on the way to breaking into the win column in league play. Watertown/Wayland came into the game 0-7 in Middlesex League play and Melrose 1-5. But, as they did last Saturday versus Stoneham,  Watertown/Wayland gave up two early goals to Melrose, and just couldn’t figure out a way to light up the lamp on the way to being shut 3-0. I’m going to sound like a broken record, but this edition of Watertown/Wayland Hockey is better than its 1-10 record. Coach John Vlachos ran out three lines on this day, and each did some good things. The number one line of Lukas Wynn, Griffin Wood and Luke Egan created the most pressure on Junior goalie Cole Matthews, but found it difficult to “muck it up” in front of him. Most of Watertown/Wayland’s scoring chances were clean looks for the Melrose goaltender, and he gave up very few rebounds on the afternoon. That said, Egan had an excellent game. The junior skated hard and fast all afternoon, and did everything he could to lead by example. He was clearly Watertown/Wayland’s number one star. The second line consisted of Liam Tourville, Jake Fijux and Micheal Philibin. They too were a hard-working threesome, and truly, if they are guilty of anything it’s being a few inches too small and a few pounds too light against a decent-sized Melrose lineup. That’s not the kind of disadvantage you point the finger at and say “hey, you got to do better.” The threesome worked their tails off and stood their own all afternoon. The third line of Ryder Barenholtz, Logan Desrosiers and Maguire Cruz didn’t see as much ice time as the first two lines, but also did some good things while out on the ice.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boys Hockey Battles Stoneham to the End

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Watertown/Wayland gave up two goals 39 seconds apart early in the first period Saturday afternoon against the visiting Stoneham Spartans, and that early deficit turned out to be too hard a mountain to climb as Watertown/Wayland fell to 1-8 on the season (0-6 in the league) in a 5-2 loss at the JAR. Both teams came into the game wanting and needing a Middlesex League win, as Stoneham entered the game 1-5 in league play. Two shifts in, it looked like both teams came ready to play, as skating was fast and determination strong. But, in a blink of an eye Watertown broke down in their own end, forcing Watertown/Wayland goalie Findlay MacDonald to face unstoppable challenges at 2:01 and 2:40 to give Stoneham a 2-0 lead. Watertown/Wayland was given two power play opportunities down 2-zip, but they couldn’t cash in. Three minutes after the second power play, Watertown gave Stoneham their first of the afternoon and they did cash in 43 seconds into the power play to make it 3-0 after one period of play.  

Team sports provides such wonderful opportunities to young athletes to experience so many great things.  Every experience is made better by winning, of course, but not everyone is meant to — win, that is. Watertown/Wayland has a record that says they are a bad team at 1-8. From my vantage point, that’s not the case. But, the truth in sports is not always fair. Watertown/Wayland has good players, they play hard, and they never give up. The problem is they are young, somewhat undersized and still developing their skills. 

All that is a way of saying there is very little room for error, and quite often it requires extraordinary feats to compete. Saturday, for example, MacDonald in net had an excellent game by any standards. He made any number of saves where he had to stand on his head, and if he hadn’t the game would not have been close.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Girls Basketball Moves to 4-1 in the League With Wire-To-Wire Win Over Reading

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The Girls Varsity Basketball Team is young, starting two freshman and a sophomore, and the first off the bench is a freshman. The season is young, as the Raiders have only five games under their belt, yet they are already 3-1 in Middlesex League play and in first place in the Freedom Division, heading into Tuesday night’s game versus Reading. And the year is young, as Tuesday night’s game was the first of nine games in January that will tell a lot about how this team manages growth and development in the competitive Middlesex League. The game was the girls’ first in seven days, but rust was not an issue as the Raiders came out humming to the tune of a 16-2 first quarter on the way to a 43-32 win, getting January off to a great start. Freshman guard Natalia Keuchkarian got off to her own great start, with 8 points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers. The team created havoc on defense, and Reading’s lack of execution on offense contributed to the Raiders dominant quarter. Senior Sophia Setouhi had steals, sophomore Brook Lambo rebounds, freshman Natalie Haley deflected a number of passes and freshman Diana Martin came off the bench and provided energy and rebounding at both ends. By the half, Watertown had built an 18-point lead at 28-10, and it wasn’t until late in the half that Reading even made it to double figures. The third quarter saw two teams struggle to create offense. Watertown missed a series of lay-ups that would have grown the lead to close to 30, and perhaps that was a harbinger of things to come. Or perhaps it was just the game of basketball behaving like the game of basketball — which is to say that a comeback was sprouting as the final quarter began. 

The fourth started well enough as a pretty Keuchkarian drive for a lay-up gave the Raiders a 37-17 lead, and a false sense perhaps that the game was over. But then …

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boy’s Basketball Gets in the Win Column Just Before The New Year

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Every team, no matter the sport, wants to get the new season off to a good start. That’s as close to a universal truth as there is in team sports. The Boys Basketball program, perennially tournament-bound and most often among the upper-echelon in D3, has been less than that to start the season, with four losses to Middlesex foes. Tusesday was the last chance in 2025 to record a win, and the Raiders did just that by beating non-league opponent Fenway, 59- 40, at the Victor J. Palladino Gymnasium. Watertown ran off 7 points to start the game, and was up 14-4 late in the quarter, largely thanks to the Michaels — sophomore Caterino and Junior Nshanian — who both came out aggressively at both ends of the floor and contributed 4 and 7 points respectively. Two late hoops off Raiders turnovers pulled Fenway within 6 at 14-8 after one quarter. In the second quarter the Fenway Panthers couldn’t buy a bucket even though they’ve averaged 64 points a game during a 1-3 start to their season.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boston Gold Kings Explode for 8 Goals, Break a Two-Game Losing Streak

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The Boston Gold Kings(BGK), essentially the Watertown Gold Kings and one of five teams in the Power Play Senior Hockey League (PPSHL) Northeast Division, returned home to the John A. Ryan Arena Saturday night to take on the Salem Sasquatch. The Gold Kings had lost the past two weeks on the road, but remained in second place after 7 games. This was the second time these two teams were meeting this season — the Sasquatch won the first game 5-4 at home back on Nov. 8. Tonight was a different story, as the Gold Kings defeated Salem 8-4. Things didn’t start out well, as BGK was assessed a bench minor before the game even began — they submitted their lineup card after the time required to do so — and Salem took advantage scoring a power play goal only 77 seconds into the game. But BGK recovered and controlled play throughout most of the period. That translated into three goals, two on the power play courtesy of Matt Baldino and Brandon Garneau. Forty-three-year-old defensemen Jon Lounsbury scored the other goal; 3-1 BGK after one period. Evan Morelli was in net for the Gold Kings, and Keegan McGlaughlin for the Sasquatch.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: The Effort Was There, But the Scoring Wasn’t for Boys Hockey Home Opener 

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John A. Ryan Arena remains the place to go locally to catch hockey action.  Blink your eyes and one game is over and another begins. On Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. Woburn came to town, coming off a season-opening loss to Wakefield last Saturday. Watertown/Wayland (W/W) found themselves in the same place after losing at Belmont, also on Saturday, 4-1. Two teams therefore eager to get their first win played hard, but Woburn was simply better on this afternoon on the way to a 4-0 victory. Watertown and Wayland continue to rely on one-another in order to field a team, and the collaborative roster for this season is equally split – 11 Raiders and 11 Tanners. It’s a young roster, with one freshman, nine sophomores, six juniors and six seniors. Five captains represent the veteran presence — Wayland junior Adam Capello, Watertown junior Isaac Maillis, Watertown junior Luke Egan, Wayland senior Griffin Wood and Wayland junior Theodore Henrich. And John Vlachos returns for another season as Head Coach.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Watertown Football Runs Out Of Treats, Losing After Holding a Halftime Lead

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The Super Bowl is practically a national holiday. Halloween comes pretty close. Come 5 p.m., you’re either getting ready at home for the doorbell to ring with trick-or-treaters, you’re putting on the final touches of a costume for yourself for a party or for your trick-or-treating children – or, you are turning off the lights and going to dinner. It’s a crazy and hectic end of almost two months of candy sales, Halloween programming on TV and outrageous front yard decorations. One thing you don’t expect to have happen on Halloween is a high school football game. But, the calendar says Happy Halloween on Friday night once every seven years, and Friday Night Football is a pretty special thing as well. So, Watertown football kept its game on Friday night rather than moving it up a day as some communities did, and it was an important game to boot.