Charlie Breitrose
The four seniors on the Watertown field hockey team – from left, Lauren Petrillo, Sydney Poulin, Maddie Leitner and Jonna Kennedy – led the Raiders to their ninth-straight state title, and 18th overall.
After winning the MIAA Div. 2 Field Hockey State Championship on Saturday 5-1 over Oakmont, Watertown High School’s four seniors reflected on the year, and their careers for the Raiders.
The seniors were part of some major accomplishments, Watertown field hockey coach Eileen Donahue said earlier in the week during a ceremony when seniors Jonna Kennedy and Maddie Leitner signed their letters of intent to play in college.
Donahue noted that they were part of the team to set the nation’s longest unbeaten streak in high school field hockey two years ago, and this year they were there when the team finally lost after more than eight years.
Ask the coach or her players, however, and the streak was not a big focus or even a topic of discussion.
“(The streak) has never been talked about all these years,” Donahue said.
Co-captain Sydney Poulin scored two goals in the final and scored the winning goal in the last three tournament games of the year. She said the seniors set out to have a successful season in their final year.
“We all knew we had to step up this season, the seniors especially,” Poulin said. “When you lose a group of seniors you always have a new group next year. We came out strong, we formed a new identity. This is our team. We got here today (to the final) and we won.”
Leitner, a defenders and co-captain who scored a pair of goals in the final, said the key to the Raiders’ success was not thinking about what the other team is going to do but on how their own team approaches the game. She will play next year at Long Island University Post.
“We really just focus on ourselves – working hard,” Leitner said. “We always emphasize work hard form first whistle to the last.”
Goalie and co-captain Jonna Kennedy, who played in net for three state finals, will be heading to Boston College next year. Knowing it was her last game, she said she did not want to leave on a down note.
“We wanted it so bad, and for the seniors it was our our last game playing for this team,” Kennedy said. “It was sentimental for us. I just feels so good to get the win.”
As the Raiders lined up to accept their State Championship medals and trophy, senior Lauren Petrillo wiped tears from her eyes. She had the key role of making the vast majority of entry passes when Watertown had a penalty corners.
“It’s definitely bittersweet. I was emotional, but it was a good emotional for sure,” Petrillo said. “We’ve worked so hard for the past four years, and this year especially. It’s been so exciting.”
The team faced some tough competition this year both in the Middlesex League and in the State Tournament, Petrillo said, including the Winchester team that handed the Raiders their only loss of the year. The Sachems went on to the Div. 1 North Section final where they fell in overtime to eventual Div. 1 state champs Andover.
Watertown focused on what it had done every year for the past eight years (and now nine years): winning the Div. 2 State Title.
“It took a lot of focus and just a lot of hard work and grit,” Petrillo said. “We had our tough patches, but it was worth it.”
Watertown Field Hockey by the Numbers
Even with the streak ending, Watertown’s field hockey legacy continued in 2017. The team added a Middlesex League Championship, a North Section Championship and a State Championship.
Watertown has 18 state championships and 25 North titles. The school with the next highest number of Div. 2 State titles is Quaboag, with three. Only one other team has more than one North Section championship, Lynnfield, which has won twice.
The Raiders have quite a successful record when they make the final. With Saturday’s victory, Watertown improved to 18-2. The last time the team fell in the final was 1999 when Greenfield defeated the Raiders 2-1 in overtime.
WATERTOWN FIELD HOCKEY TITLES
State Championships: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.
North Section Titles: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.
WATERTOWN FIELD HOCKEY STATE FINAL HISTORY
2017 Watertown 5, Oakmont 1
2016 Watertown 4, Oakmont 3
2015 Watertown 6, Auburn 0
2014 Watertown 5, Auburn 0
2013 Watertown 1, Auburn 0
2012 Watertown 1, Oakmont 0
2011 Watertown 3, Oakmont 1
2010 Watertown 1, Auburn 0
2009 Watertown 1, Auburn 0
2002 Watertown 2, Greenfield 1
2001 Watertown 3, Nipmuc 2 (OT)
1999 Greenfield 2, Watertown 1 (OT)
1997 Watertown 2, Greenfield 1 (2OT)
1996 Bellingham 4, Watertown 3
1994 Watertown 5, Quaboag 0
1992 Watertown 3, Nauset 1
1990 Watertown 2, Bellingham 1 (OT)
1989 Watertown 5, Sandwich 0
1988 Watertown 1, Quaboag 0
1986 Watertown 2, Milton 1