Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/tag/boys-hockey/page/2/)
Two old reliables – Anthony Busconi and Tyler Gardiner – came through for Watertown Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden, and the Raiders skated home with the MIAA Div. 3 State Championship after beating Agawam 2-1. Senior goalie, Busconi, kept Watertown in the game against the physical and talented Brownies. He made 13 saves while the Raiders could only muster four shots. Things changed in the second period.
The Watertown boys’ hockey team dreamed of making it to the TD Garden for the state final, and they made it by playing like a family. Sunday at 1 p.m., the Raiders hit the Garden ice to face off against Agawam for the MIAA Div. 3 state championship. Get live updates from the game in the live blog below. When you talk to the Watertown players and coaches, one thing comes up over and over – family.
A trip to the Cape in early March does not make for a nice vacation, but the Watertown boys’ hockey team will remember their trip forever after they won the state semifinal against Norwell 3-0 to clinch a trip to the TD Garden for the MIAA Div. 3 state final. The game at Gallo Arena in Bourne started out rough for the Raiders, who absorbed plenty of offensive pressure from the Clippers in the first period. Watertown managed only five shots in the first stanza, while Raiders’ senior goalie Anthony Busconi stoped all 11 Norwell shots, some from just feet away. “I thought the first period we weren’t very good,” Waterotwn head coach Mike Hayes said.
The puck drops at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday when the Watertown boys’ hockey team looks to keep its magical tournament run going all the way to the Garden for the state final. Follow the action live below! The Raiders (14-3-7) face a tough Norwell (21-1-3) team, the South Section champs in the MIAA Div. 3 state semifinal at Gallo Arena in Bourne.
Watertown has been on a tournament run deeper than has been seen since 1991, when the Raiders also reached the state semifinal.
Students, parents and Raider faithful mobbed the Watertown boy’s hockey team as they left the ice holding the MIAA Div. 3 North Section trophy after beating Bedford Friday night.
Watertown’s boys’ hockey team grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second period after the second of two Tyler Poulin goals and the rode senior goalie Anthony Busconi to claim the MIAA Div. 3 North Section Title Friday night at the Chelmsford Forum. “For the most part during this whole tournament (Busconi) has played great,” said Watertown head coach Mike Hayes. “Tonight I think he really kept us in it.
Raiders fans have a busy weekend, with two teams playing in North Section finals – the boys’ hockey team and the girl’s basketball team. Friday night, the Watertown boys’ hockey team faces Bedford at the Chelmsford Forum in the MIAA Div. 3 North Section final. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m.
Follow Watertown News’ Twitter – @WatertownMANews – for live updates from this weekends games! Watertown head coach Mike Hayes said his team has really come together this year.
The Raiders dominated Wayland most of the game in the 4-1 MIAA Div. 3 North Section semifinal win reached a round that Watertown has not visited in decades. Watertown (13-3-2) fell behind early Tuesday evening at the Chelmsford Forum, but junior Nick Martino tied the score less than three minutes later with 6:25 left in the first with an unassisted goal. Junior Tyler Gardiner scored the first of his two goals 4:22 into the second period when he took a pass from junior Tyler Poulin and beat Wayland goalie Andrew Ludwig with a backhand move. The goal provided some redemption for Gardiner and the Raiders who fell last year in the same round to Wayland 1-0 in overtime.
Three Raiders teams will play to go deep into their respective MIAA state tournaments on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The boys’ hockey team begins Tuesday with revenge on the players’ minds. Watertown faces Wayland, the squad that eliminated the Raiders in overtime last year in the same round – the section semifinals. The game will be at 5:10 p.m. at the Chelmsford Forum. A win gives them a birth in the Div. 3 North Section semifinals, back at the Chelmsford Forum on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the Bedford-Weston game.