Rodrigo Freitas scores twice as Watertown boys’ soccer bounces back

The Watertown Raiders boys’ soccer team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 4-0 win over Jeremiah E. Burke High School on a rainy Monday night at Victory Field.

Junior Rodrigo Freitas had two goals and an assist for the Raiders, who improved to 3-1 on the season (2-1 Middlesex League).

Head coach Frank Cacia said Freitas was excellent in the matchup.

“He’s coming into his own, and he’s going to be a special player for us,” he said.

Ten minutes after junior Gevork Karapetyan opened the scoring by rocketing a volley from a corner into the top of the net, Freitas blasted a shot into the bottom right corner to put Watertown ahead, 2-0, in the 25th minute.

Coming off a 3-1 loss against Winchester where the Raiders struggled to create offensive chances, Watertown’s front line kept up a consistent pressure on Burke that eventually led to their four goals.

Cacia said the team made some adjustments following the loss, and they seemed to pay off Monday night.

“We worked on some finishing drills, and just capitalizing on our opportunities,” he said. “We wanted to attack with more numbers and have communication in the back line.”

Pouring rain throughout the game made for sloppy conditions which both teams had to deal with. However, Burke seemed to be having extra trouble clearing the ball from their zone, which led to the first two goals.

Sophomore Nicholas Dipace charged through the box to score on a header off of a corner kick halfway through the second half. After a few more minutes of pressure by the Raiders, Freitas scored his second goal of the night off a set piece from 25 yards to put the Raiders up 4-0.

Emotions were running high at the end of the game as play started to become more physical. A retaliatory slide tackle by Ivo Seid of Burke with 16 minutes to play caused the officials to call a timeout to allow both teams to reset.

Burke had a number scoring chances in the final minutes, but keeper Devin Breen and the rest of the Raiders back line were able to maintain the shutout.

The Raiders return to Middlesex League action when they faceoff with Arlington on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Arlington High School.

–Sept. 11, 2018–