Photo: Action in the Belmont/Watertown game

In an early season contest between two of the top-ten high school field hockey teams in Massachusetts, a fluke goal would prove to be the difference as Belmont (2-1-0) fell to perannual state champion Watertown (3-0-0), 2-1, in most competitive match between the neighbors since the 2011 North 2 Division championship which the Raiders won 2-1. The win extended Watertown’s winning streak to 100 games, the second time Watertown under the four decade helm of Head Coach Elieen Donahue has reached consecutive triple digit victories.

“I think things didn’t always fall the right way for us today, but we didn’t stop playing our game,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Jess Smith, after the game held at Victory Field. “We didn’t stop trying the whole time as we had some outstanding performances on the field. And I thought we had more opportunities than Watertown. We just didn’t make it happen.”

And the margin between the teams was the width of a standard Post-it note. Field hockey is one of quirky sports which limits where a team can score. A ball struck from beyond the Circle – a 16-yard D shaped area in front of the net – is not counted. The best tactic a defending team should do with a long-distance attempt is steer well clear of the ball as it goes out-of-bounds or ends up in the back of the net.

And Belmont coaches shouted to sophomore goalie Zoe Bruce to move away from the ball as the clearing shot by Watertown came from well beyond the scoring circle. But the ball did not go out or in the net; rather, it barely clipped the 2-inch wide left goal post and rebounded onto the field of play where Watertown’s Aisling Brennock ran onto the easiest of easy goals late in the first quarter.

“[Bruce] did everything right. She was not her fault. We all thought it was going out,” said Smith. “I have never seen that in 20 years of coaching.”

Watertown doubled its lead in the second quarter in a more conventional manner off a penalty corner as Kaylee Master snuck the ball just inside the left post. Watertown held the upper hand in the first half as the Raiders held Belmont’s all-time points record holder senior co-captain Mackenzie Clarke – who is Donahue’s neice – in check by dedicating players primarily Taylor Foley to stick close to Belmont’s scoring threat.

But Belmont would flip the script of Watertown’s first half dominace from its own penalty corner. Junior co-captain defender Elsie Lakin-Schultz took a strong pass from senior midfield/inserter Gigi Masterangelo and beat Watertown’s first-year goalie Natalia Keuchikarian by her outstreched right pad.

“I really think it’s the same mindset playing defense and scoring,” said Lakin-Schultz of her first goal of the season. “I feel like a lot of people think scoring is the most important part of the game, but locking down on [an opponant] and stopping them on defense and scoring is the same thing.”

The third quarter saw Belmont withstand an early push from Watertown to take over the game’s momentum as the Raiders hunckered down into a defensive stance with three defenders in front of a sweeper to limit passes and runs at Keuchikarian. Despite dominating the sidelines, Belmont shots were mostly from distance with two attempts by Clarke soared over the net and was knocked by Watertown’s net minder.

Watertown worked hard in the final quarter to bottle Belmont in the center of the pitch while launching long balls forcing Belmont to drive the length of the field. It appeared Belmont had scored in the final four minutes when a ball from outside the scoring circle was tipped into the net by senior Caroline French but the officials didn’t see it that way. As time ran out, Belmont earned a coveted penalty corner, packing the scoring circle with 10 players. But Clarke’s shot when high and the Raiders survived the annual encounter.

While a loss is a loss, Smith admired how her team performed against the best team in Massachusetts.

“We played hard. We were in it the whole time,” said Smith. “And I really felt like it could have gone either way. And it makes me more excited for the next games coming up.”