Sean Browne
Watertown’s Emily Loprete (left) and Allie Doggett celebrate after defeating Auburn High School 5-0 at WPI Sunday afternoon.
Watertown High School’s seniors ended their field hockey careers with flare, scoring all five goals in a rout of Auburn. The Raiders claimed the MIAA Div. 2 State Championship trophy for the sixth straight year.
The Raiders defeated Auburn (17-4-3) in a rematch of the 2013 final at WPI in Worcester on Sunday afternoon.
Watertown came out firing on all cylinders and only a defensive player’s stick stopped the Raiders from scoring in the first couple minutes.
The Raiders scored soon enough. Senior co-captain Allie Doggett took a big hit from an Auburn defender, who was sent off for four minutes. Doggett made the Rockets pay taking the ensuing corner and burying a shot from the top of the circle.
Sean Browne
Senior Rachel Campbell scored the first goal in the Raiders’ 5-0 state final victory. Here she gets off a shot on goal while being defended by Auburn\’s Carly Zona
Senior Rachel Campbell struck first, blasting a shot from the top of the circle off a pass from sophomore Kourtney Kennedy with 18:40 left in the first half.
Senior Emily Loprete scored twice before the half was over, both on corner plays. First she put in the ball with 16:40 left, which was passed to two teammates before going back to the co-captain for the goal from short range. Then, with about seven minutes left, Loprete took the corner to Kennedy, who gave it right back to Loprete who was in position to score.
Sean Browne
Watertown co-captain Emily Loprete fires a shot Sunday’s state final against Auburn. The senior scored a hat trick in her final game as a Raider.
Auburn came out with renewed offensive pressure in the second half, but after a couple of good chances, Watertown went back to work.
After a flurry of shots, Kourtney Kennedy drew a penalty stroke when an Auburn defender blocked a shot with her body. Kennedy narrowly missed the stroke. A couple minutes later, with just under 18 minutes left, she passed to Loprete who scored her third of the game.
The win concludes one of the most successful seasons of a very successful program led by coach Eileen Donahue. Watertown finished 23-0 and outscored opponents 114-0.
Sean Browne
The Watertown field hockey team pose for a photo with the 2014 MIAA Div. 2 State Championship trophy – the school’s sixth straight.