Charlie Breitrose
The 2014 version of the Watertown field hockey team – posing with the North Section championship trophy – has been dominant – even for Watertown.
Watertown High School’s field hockey team returns to a familiar place on Sunday – Worcester for the MIAA Div. 2 state final.
This is the sixth straight final for the Raiders, who have not lost in 137 game. Even for this successful team, however, 2014 has been a particularly successful season.
Watertown compiled a 22-0 record and has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 109-0. That’s right – no goals against them. Some games the opposing side does not even get an official shot on goal.
The key to their success, coach Eileen Donahue said, is not to think about the past and to work hard.
“You can’t get set on your laurels. Every inch counts,” she said after Watertown’s 4-0 win over Dover-Sherborn in Tuesday’s state semifinal.
After the dominating win, senior co-captain Allie Doggett said that even after the Raiders scored the fourth goal “We played to the last second. We always like to have the pressure up.”
Charlie Breitrose
Watertown senior Rachel Campbell, left and freshman Sydney Poulin rush for a loose ball against Dover-Sherborn in the state semifinal.
Even when the Raiders held a commanding lead, they still gave their full effort – even when that effort was put toward running out the clock.
After sophomore Kourtney Kennedy took the ball into the corner of the field and played keep away from three defenders for about a minute, Doggett yelled “Good job Kourtney!” and then dropped back into defensive mode and yelled “Come on!” to her teammates as the clock ticked under a minute left in the long-since decided match.
The Matchup
On Sunday at 2 p.m., the Raiders have a rematch of last year’s final against Auburn at WPI in Worcester. In 2013 Watertown did not score until 12 minutes left in the game and held on for the 1-0 win.
Last year, Auburn reached the final undefeated and untied. This year’s team, however, did not appear to be headed back to the final as they finished the regular season with a 12-3-3 record and were seeded sixth in the Central Section bracket.
The Rockets beat the third, second and then first seeded team in the section and on Wednesday Auburn defeated West Section champ Frontier 1-0 in the other state semifinal.
If you cannot make the game, follow Watertown News for live updates. A streaming video feed will be available online – go to www.miaa.net for details.