Charlie Breitrose
The banner for Watertown’s 2015 state championship was unveiled at the John A. Ryan Arena Saturday.
Saturday was a day of celebration for the Watertown High School hockey teams as they each unveiled championship banners, but the day’s games did not leave the teams in a cheery mood.
Last March, the Raiders boys hockey team won the school’s first state championship. Before the first home game against Winchester, Watertown unveiled the new championship banner at John A. Ryan Arena. The Raiders showed the same spirit that won them the title for most of the game, but the short bench caught up with them in the third period of the 4-2 loss.
After Winchester went up 1-0 early in the second period on a goal by Joseph Lepore, Watertown battled back. The first strike came from senior Tyler Gardiner who scored 5:14 into the second. Fellow seniors Tyler Poulin and Mike Giordano assisted on the tally.
Charlie Breitrose
Watertown senior Tyler Gardiner, left, and Tyler Poulin celebrate after Gardiner scored against Winchester.
The Raiders took at 2-1 lead with just 33 seconds left in the second when senior Nick Martino blasted one from the circle past the Sachems goalie on the power play. Tim Connors and Poulin got the assists.
Watertown clung to the lead until 6:14 left in the third when Winchester’s Jonathan Lepore scored and tied the game. Just 28 seconds later, the Sachems went ahead 3-2 with a Daniel O’Connell goal.
O’Connell netted his second five minutes later and clinched the game.
This year’s Watertown hockey team is a work in progress, said head coach Mike Hayes. The team lost all the defensemen from the championship team and only skates two lines of forwards.
“They played two and a half good periods, and played terrible the last half (period),” Hayes said. “Guys are tired. We have forwards playing defense – guys trying to find their way.”
Charlie Breitrose
A Raiders forward skates in on the Winchester goal in the 4-2 loss Saturday.
Watertown’s efforts were not helped when Giordano hurt his hand in the play that led to the tying goal. He returned but not until the Raiders were behind. Despite dropping to 0-2, Hayes remains confident about the outlook for his team.
“We’ll get there. It’s a work in progress,” Hayes said. “It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”
Watertown now has four straight home games: Marlborough on Monday, Dec. 21 at 5:10 p.m., Reading on Dec. 23 at 6 p.m., Westborough on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. and Burlington on Jan. 2 at 12:30 p.m.
Girls Get Their Own Banner
Charlie Breitrose
Goalie Jonna Kennedy reaches for the puck in front of the banner the Watertown girls hockey team got for winning the Middlesex League in 2015.
The Raiders girls hockey team also added a banner to the wall of Ryan Arena. Saturday afternoon they debuted their 2015 Middlesex League Freedom Division Champions banner.
The game, however, did not bring the same joy. Watertown fell 5-0 to Winchester.
Unlike the past several years, which brought three league titles, the Raiders are playing without a co-op partner. The past two years, Watertown teamed up with Belmont and before that Melrose partnered with the Raiders for a multiple years.
When Watertown and Belmont requested an extension of their co-op, the Middlesex League denied it, said Watertown Athletic Director Michael Lahiff.
Watertown dropped to 0-2. The team has two home games during the winter break – Dec. 23 at 4 p.m. against Reading and Jan. 2 at 2:30 p.m. vs. Burlington.