The Watertown High hockey team didn’t get off to a perfect start this season, but it didn’t take long to right the ship.

After a 3-0 loss on opening night at the hands of Arlington, the Raiders have put themselves back on track with four consecutive victories.

Following their opening defeat, the Raiders immediately bounced back with a big win against Middlesex League powerhouse Winchester, pulling out a 4-3 win over the Division 1 Sachems.

Junior Tyler Gardiner and senior Austin Farry put the Raiders in front with goals in the first period, and junior Nick Martino extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period. Though the Sachems rallied to make it 3-2, junior Tyler Poulin scored on the power play to put Watertown up, 4-2.

A late Winchester goal kept things interesting, but senior Anthony Busconi (27 saves) secured the win with multiple key saves down the stretch.

With their first win out of the way, the Raiders traveled to Westborough, and Gardiner put the visitors up 1-0 on the very first shift of the game. It looked like Watertown might have a big offensive outburst, but Gardiner’s would be the lone goal of the entire contest, as Busconi picked up his first shutout of the season and the Raiders improved to 2-1.

Westborough served as the Raiders’ first nonleague opponent of the season, and the Raiders improved to 4-1 by sweeping all three nonleague matchups, blowing out Swampscott and Nashoba Regional.

Gardiner opened the scoring against Swampscott with two early goals, and Poulin, Martino, and Farry added goals to complete a resounding 5-1 triumph over the Big Blue.

Poulin would go on to bury two goals in a 5-0 win over Nashoba Regional, and Gardiner, junior Matthew Busconi, and senior Jeff Comeau ended up on the scoresheet with one goal each, with Anthony Busconi picking up his second shutout of the year.

The Raiders will take their 4-1 record into Burlington on Saturday, Jan. 3, as Watertown resumes league play and its defense of the Middlesex League title.

–Jan. 1, 2015–