Watertown Field Hockey Team Rolls into Fifth Straight State Final

On a very chilly night, it took Watertown's field hockey team a few minutes to warm up, but eventually the Raiders got in gear and rolled to a 4-0 win in the Div. 2 state seminal over Dover-Sherborn.

Dover-Sherborn kept the Raiders from moving down field for much of the first half of the game at Braintree High School. They accomplished this largely by double and triple teaming Watertown players when they had the ball.

The deadlock was broken, however, when Watertown fired a shot from outside the circle (meaning it would not count if it went in the goal) but sophomore Mikayla Paone tipped the ball and gave the Raiders a lead with 17 minutes left in the first half.

"That was really nice for us to get a stick it after the shot came in," said Watertown field hockey coach Eileen Donahue. "I’m so happy because the girl who got that has had issues with that, but Mikayla got a stick on it."

With about 4:30 left in the first half, Watertown struck again when junior Allie Doggett scored from a few yards out off a penalty corner.

Despite a 2-0 lead, Donahue said her team still needed to play a tough second half. 

"Obviously Dover-Sherborn is here for a reason," Donahue said. "They are a talented team and very skillful team. And we knew we had to bring it even more - even when we were up 2 goals. Clearly they've come back and won (after trailing)."

The scored remained the same until 13 minutes left in the second when a Watertown shot that appeared to be going wide hit the far post, and freshman Kourtney Kennedy swooped in and lifted the ball into the goal. 

A few minutes later, junior Emily Loprete scored after the Dover-Sherborn goalie saved three or four point blank shots. Loprete grabbed the ball, took a step to the side and fired the ball home.

Watertown's unbeaten streak is now 114 games, and the team improved its record this season to 22-0. Saturday at noon, the Raiders face Auburn in the Div. 2 state final at Worcester Polytechnical Institute (WPI).