Watertown, MA – The 34th seeded South Shore Voc Tech made their way north to the John A Ryan Arena to face the 2nd seeded Raiders of Watertown High School. This came following a play-in game win for the Vikings which earned them this road game against one of the top teams in Division 4.
From the drop of the puck, Watertown was in control and carried the play. Five minutes into the period Watertown sophomore Alec Banosian picked off a breakout pass and sniped bar down giving Watertown the 1-0 lead. One minute later Watertown won an offensive zone face-off back to the defenseman Mauricio Souza who found the back of the net adding to the lead making it 2-0. Watertown continued to carry the play and pressure South Shore all over the ice. Junior forward Anthony Venezia won a wall battle and made a great pass to Mason Andrade in the slot but he was denied by South Shore goalie Tanner Graden making a great sliding save. Sophomore James Erickson would collect the rebound and slide it in the empty net giving them the 3-0 lead. With a minute and a half left Watertown struck again. Venezia, with tremendous vision, found Banosian in the slot and he finished his chance closing the period out 4-0 for Watertown.
South Shore was looking for some momentum to start the second but Watertown had other plans. One minute into the period Andrade streaking down the left wing beat a defenseman and slid one past the outstretched goalie making it 5-0. Two minutes later Erickson went in on a breakaway, made a great move and buried, giving Watertown the 6-0 lead. With 9:44 to go, South Shore was given on a five-on-three power play. They managed a couple of quality shots but Raiders defenseman Nathan Master would instead put Watertown up 7-0. He picked off a cross-ice pass and beat the goalie short side high. The game started getting chippy and Watertown would go on the power play with 6:57 to go in the period. Senior Michael Cormier got a pass from junior Brendan Campbell and beat the goalie from the right faceoff circle, adding the lead making it 8-0. It wouldn’t stay that way for long; with four minutes to go, Banosian found Souza in the slot for the ninth goal of the game. And finally, the period would end with Jack Dickie burying a one-timer from the top of the circle past the goalie giving Watertown a 10-0 lead.
The third period was a more balanced 15 minutes with Watertown playing more of their third and fourth line players. South Shore continued to battle and grind and had a few opportunities in this period. With 4:00 to go, senior Dante Venezia would tip a puck in the slot and beat the netminder making it 11-0. Then with 36 seconds to play, freshman Dante Cosco went in on a mini-breakaway and slid one through, ending the period and the game. Watertown would win 12-0. Watertown advances convincingly to play Dedham at home, likely early in the week. Stay tuned for time and venue.
Three Stars:
- F Alec Banosian, Watertown
- F Anthony Venezia, Watertown
- F James Erickson, Watertown