As the Watertown boys hockey team entered last night's Division 2 North first-round game, the table seemed to be set for the Raiders to make some noise.
Watertown held the No. 7 seed and boasted a 6-1-2 home record (13-5-3 overall). The Raiders had made the state tournament with a legitimate above-.500 record for the first time in seven years (after previously entering on the Sullivan Rule, in which they only had to play .500 or better against teams in their own division).
Their opponents, the 10th-seeded Wolfpack of Boston Latin, came in at 10-6-4.
But Watertown ended up on the losing end of a 5-2 score, abruptly ending the Raiders' season.
The Raiders found themselves down 2-0 after the first period and simply couldn't dig themselves out.
``Obviously, it's tough when you put yourself in a hole like that early on,'' Watertown coach John Campbell said. ``Just, overall, we had too many mistakes and breakdowns. Out of the (five) goals they got tonight, I'd say we gave them four. You're not going to win many hockey games that way.''
The first period started slow with a lot of dump and chase hockey. Latin recorded the first shot on goal, but not until nearly three minutes into the opening frame.
Latin then began sustaining some pressure, locking the puck deep in the Watertown zone.
The 'Pack finally broke through first at 3:30 after a shot from the point bounced around in the slot and was eventually batted home.
Almost four minutes later, Latin struck again, this time with junior Jake Urso carrying the puck through the entire Raider zone and ripping a shot that beat Watertown goalie Alex Hayek on the low blocker side.
As the second period opened, it was clear Watertown's objective was to come out much more physical.
After Latin goalie Gabe Diop made an outstanding sprawling save, it looked like it would be a long night for the Raiders. But just a minute after their best chance of the night was squandered, Watertown finally got on the board. Junior Greg Geagen fired a shot from the point that had eyes and snuck behind Diop. Sophomore Mike Martino was there to finish the job and bang it home, cutting the deficit to one.
A failed clear attempt put the Raiders back down by two with just 3:35 left in the period, as Alex Brown picked off a bad pass, walked in, and snapped a wrister that beat Hayek upstairs.
The snowball effect continued with just 52.3 seconds remaining on the clock as Latin found the back of the cage again, this time on a power-play goal from Connor Lynn, sending the teams to the dressing room with the score 4-1.
``I thought we out-played them in the second period,'' Campbell said, noting his team's physical play. ``I thought we played hard, but not smart, and that's what killed us.''
The third period looked much like the first, but Watertown gained a little life with 4:23 remaining when senior defenseman Sean Bowler picked up a goal after his shot from the point trickled in off a defender's stick, making it 4-2.
It was too little, too late, though, as Latin added one more with 1:37 remaining on the clock, ending the Raider's season.
``Obviously you want to score early heading into the third there, but we knew it was tough coming out there (for the third period) down 4-1,'' Campbell said. ``At that point, I think we kept playing hard, but we just didn't have enough left in the tank. Latin deserved to win the hockey game tonight, that's the bottom line.
``I mean, I'm proud of the team. We had a good amount of wins this year, but this one's disappointing. I didn't think we'd be done yet. It definitely stings.''
