A blast by Watertown's Vardan Yeghiyan into the top corner of the goal ended any hope for Newburyport in the boys' soccer section semifinal and capped a hat trick for the junior striker Saturday afternoon at Lynn's Manning Field.

The No. 6 seed Raiders' scored an historic victory, said Watertown coach Frank Cacia, as Watertown moved onto the MIAA North Section Div. 3 final.

"At this stage it is whatever team wants it most. We've trained hard during the season, the boys worked their butts off in the off season," Cacia said. "I still believe we haven't peaked as a team. I still think we can get better in finishing the opportunities we had, but we just made history today making it to the finals."

No. 10 seed Newburyport (11-7-2) pressured the Raiders for much of the first half, but Watertown got on the board when Yeghiyan scored on a counter attack and booted the ball past Clippers' goalie Matthew Canning with 18 minutes left.

The Raiders (13-2-6) grabbed a 2-0 lead after the Clippers fouled a Watertown player in the box and referees gave the Raiders a penalty kick with 12 minutes left in the half. Yeghiyan stepped up and converted his second goal of the game.

In the second half, Watertown provided most of the pressure.

"I just thought they weren't really getting into a rhythm as a team, Newburyport wasn't, so I thought we should slow the ball down a bit and knock it around and use our skill to our advantage," Cacia said. "We're just a better second half team. We make adjustments and these guys performed amazingly today."

The final goal came from around 30 yards out as Yeghiyan struck a laser of a shot from about 30 yards out into the far upper corner of the Newburyport goal with 12 minutes left in the game. 

Cacia said his striker played great, but he is not the only one who deserves credit for the Raiders' victory.

"(He was) Amazing. He's a powerful forward, big body, but it is a complete team effort, not one person, and that's what it's going to take," Cacia said.

The Raiders play No. 8 seed Weston (12-4-3) in the North Section final Monday at 3 p.m. at Manning Field in Lynn.

The Watertown High boys soccer team reached the Division Three North final four following a 4-1 win over Ipswich Tuesday night at Victory Field in a D-3 North quarterfinal match-up.

"This is very exciting for the school," Watertown boys head coach Frank Cacia said. "I don't think a Watertown soccer team has ever made it this far."

The Raiders dominated the first ten minutes of the game but had nothing to show for it. They created three solid chances to take the early lead but were not able to open the scoring.

Eventually it was the Tigers who got the early momentum when they tallied for the lone first half goal 26 minutes into the contest.

"It was a 40-yard penalty kick," Cacia explained of the only goal the Raiders allowed in the game. "The ball just skipped and spun in the net. It was a bad break for us but we still felt very good at halftime. We knew we were outplaying them and we felt once we got one in the goals would start coming."

That's exactly the script Watertown followed in the second half.

Sophomore Rafael DeSouza got the game tying goal on an assist from junior forward/midfielder Vardan Yeghiyan nine minutes into the second stanza and it opened the flood gates.

Six minutes later the sixth seeded Raiders took the lead for good when senior Raffi Chilingaryan converted on a pass from fellow senior midfielder James Garbier before Garbier made it a 3-1 game just four minutes later.

Chilingaryan struck again (assist from Yeghiyan) at the 23 minute mark and the Raiders knew then that they were on their way to the D-3 North semi-finals.

"That was the best 20 minutes we played all year long," Cacia said of the span in which Watertown scored four times. "We really created a lot of pressure. One of the things I reminded the boys at half-time was our pre-season goal of going undefeated at home and that we were so close to accomplishing that feat.  That really seemed to motivate the team."   

The Tigers came into this game seeded 14th with two straight tournament upsets under their belts but the Raiders played well enough to deny Ipswich their third straight victory as underdogs.

Meanwhile Watertown, now 12-2-6, will advance to play tenth seeded Newburyport Thursday afternoon (November 8) in a 3:30 P.M. game at the Manning Bowl in Lynn.

Read more: Boys Soccer: Watertown reaches final four with win over Ipswich - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/x1890074090/Boys-Soccer-Watertown-reaches-final-four-with-win-over-Ipswich#ixzz2BbQqOxwX

After being eliminated by Georgetown in last year's tournament the Watertown High boys soccer team had to go to overtime to return the favor this year in a 2-1 win over the Royals Saturday night in the first round of the Division Three North tournament held at Victory Field.

It was sophomore Rafael DeSouza who scored six minutes into the first overtime for the sudden death victory that allowed the Raiders to live another day.

"I feel 100 years older," Watertown head coach Frank Cacia joked after the game. "But this was an exciting tournament win."

The game winner was set up on a corner kick from senior midfielder Raffi Chilingaryan (1 goal, 1 assist), who also opened the scoring four minutes into the game (assist from James Kapotsis) to give his team an early 1-0 advantage.

The score remained the same until the Royals broke the locals hearts with a game tying score with just 15 seconds left in the contest.

"All the guys were bent down and lying on the ground in disbelief after that goal," Cacia said. "But I yelled at them to get up and remind them we can still win."

Six minutes later sorrow turned to jubilation as the Raiders knocked off a Georgetown team that won the Eastern Mass championship a season ago.

"It was great to knock them off," Cacia said. "But I thought this was a really good character win for us to come back from that devastating goal they scored. Going through a game like this just may help us in other tournament games."

The Raiders will play Tuesday night November 6 against the winner of Sunday's (November 4) match-up between Ipswich and Lowell Catholic. Should Lowell Catholic win, the sixth seeded Raiders (11-2-6) would have to travel to Lowell but if Ipswich wins, the game will be played at Victory Field.

Read more: Boys Soccer: Watertown dispatches Georgetown in first round of tournament - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/x1890072120/Boys-Soccer-Watertown-dispatches-Georgetown-in-first-round-of-tournament#ixzz2BbRfssAr

Here is a link to the bracket:

http://miaa.statebrackets.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=2640

Read more: Boys Soccer: Watertown records 9th shutout of the season against Melrose - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/x1890066912/Boys-Soccer-Watertown-records-9th-shutout-of-the-season-against-Melrose#ixzz2AStBavpW

Four second-half goals were the difference in the Watertown High boys soccer team's 5-1 win over Burlington on Monday night.

After both teams swapped goals in the first half, the Raiders offense clicked on all cylinders in the second half allowing them to win their eighth game of the season.

"Our intensity picked up in the second half and that led to crisper passes and better opportunities," Watertown head coach Frank Cacia said after the game. "In the first half we only had one shot on net."

That shot happened to go in at the eight minute mark when junior Vardan Yeghiyan (2 goals) converted on a feed from sophomore Rafael DeSouza (tied with Sardaryan for Middlesex League Small scoring lead with 12 points) to open the scoring. The Red Devils, though, tied the game before intermission.

"It could have been worse but Greg (junior Raider keeper Greg Koutroukas) made some nice saves," Cacia said. "I thought he kept us in the game."

The game winner came eight minutes into the second half when Yeghiyan found the net on a feed from junior Juan Nieto Lopez before two consecutive goals from DeSouza (2 goals, 1 assist) and a goal from junior Cody Hecht provided the final score. Also contributing to the offense was senior midfielder Raffi Chilingaryan who assisted on the last three Raider tallies.

The five goals scored by the locals was the team's highest offensive production of the season. It also gave them a total of 20 goals scored at home this season while just allowing two from their opponents.

With the victory the Raiders improved to 8-2-6 on the year with two remaining games left. They will play at Melrose on Wednesday October 24 before Senior Day commences against visiting Stoneham on Saturday at noon in the Raiders last regular season game.

The post-season will start less than a week later.

"The pairings come out on October 31," Cacia said. "And we expect to play a home game to start the tournament on either Thursday (November 1) or Friday (November 2)."

Read more: Boys Soccer: Watertown pounds Burlington 5 - 1 - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/watertown-blog/x1890064614/Boys-Soccer-Watertown-pounds-Burlington-5-1#ixzz2A9zSLxMD

The Watertown High boys soccer team's chances to win the Middlesex League Small title suffered a blow on Tuesday night after a 1-0 loss at Wilmington. Both teams entered the game tied at the top of the standings with 16 league points but that all changed after the Wildcats big win.

"We don't control our destiny anymore," Watertown head coach Frank Cacia, whose team's league record fell to 5-2-6 after the setback, said. "We are going to need a little help from other teams now."

The only goal of the game came 31 minutes into the first half when the Wildcats were able to convert on a play that started on a long throw in pass. It led to a golden chance in front of the net where they were able to capitalize.

"The one thing about Wilmington is that they are very opportunistic," Cacia said. "They really only had once chance to score this whole game but they made the most of it. But we still felt good at halftime. The boys knew they controlled most of the play in the first half."

Watertown, though, couldn't get the equalizer as the Wildcats clamped down defensively. The Raiders simply couldn't create many scoring chances after the break.

"Once they get the lead they are very tough to score on," Cacia said of the Wildcats. "They send a lot of players back on defense and they are a very fast, athletic team just like your typical Middlesex League team."

With the loss the Raiders overall record dropped to 7-2-6. In order to gain at least a share of the Middlesex League Small championship they will have to win their remaining three regular season games and hope Wilmington can lose at least one of their remaining four.

Watertown is scheduled to host Stoneham on Thursday October 18 but a National Honor gathering at Stoneham High School on the same night may postpone the game until Saturday October 20.

Read more: Boys Soccer: Watertown team's future in the air after loss to Wilmington - Watertown, MA - Watertown TAB http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/x1890062014/Boys-Soccer-Watertown-teams-future-in-the-air-after-loss-to-Wilmington#ixzz29bxmspp0

Vardan Yeghiyan netted a pair and Greg Koutroukas made five saves for his eighth shutout as Watertown(7-1-6) beat Wakefield, 4-0, in the Middlesex League.