Caiden Kiani scores twice as Watertown boys’ soccer stays in first place

Raider Times photo / Jeffrey Begg

Watertown’s Justin Viasus beats the Stoneham keeper as the Raiders boys’ soccer team defeated Stoneham, 5-2, on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.

Alex Egan, Raider Times staff
October 23, 2018

The Watertown High School boys’ soccer team stayed in first place in the Middlesex League by beating Stoneham, 5-2, on the road Oct. 20, 2018.

The game was played on a cold Saturday morning, but warmed up as the sun started to rise. The game started with Watertown on the front end. The Raiders immediately pressured the ball, which would work out soon as Rodrigo Freitas put Watertown up, 1-0. Freitas got the ball at the edge of the 18-yard box and slotted it home into the bottom left corner.

Soon after, sophomore Caiden Kiani kept up his good form with not one, but two goals. First, Kiani made the score 2-0, an inviting corner went straight to Kiani’s head and he would finish with ease.

Raider Times photo / Jeffrey Begg
The Stoneham goalkeeper is unable to keep Caiden Kiani from finishing with his second goal of the game as Watertown won, 5-2, on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.

Stoneham would surprisingly cut the lead in half as the Spartans got a free kick just outside the box and converted from it. However, shortly after, Kiani gave Watertown another two-goal cushion as another brilliant cross from Gevork Karapetyan gave Kiani a tap-in, making the score 3-1.

An exciting half got even better as Stoneham would somehow find the net a second time making it 3-2. A cross into the box never got cleared and Stoneham would take advantage of it, finishing it into the side netting.

Watertown kept pushing and got a fourth goal through Justin Viasus. The Stoneham keeper made a great save, but Viasus would calmly finish the rebound into the top corner for his first goal of the season. The half soon ended after that goal, with the Raiders up, 4-2.

The Raiders desperately wanted to keep their lead, so they could get bench players in, and needed to start the second half better than the first. They would indeed make that happen.

With the score 4-2, Watertown took out most of their injured starters, and players such as Max Juscen, Kenan Canca, and Jack Nicolas came on and made an appearance.

Halfway into the second half, Watertown was forced to switch out its goalie as Devon Breen was injured while jumping for a ball. Straight from the JV game, Nicolas came on and replaced Breen for the remainder of the game.

The game got a little fiery as Stoneham players got mad and started trash-talking. Senior Paulo Costa would shut them up as he banged in a volley into the side netting from the top of the 18-yard box.

The game would end shortly, giving Watertown a well-deserved 5-2 win and kept them in first place in the Middlesex League.

The boys’ next game is Tuesday, Oct. 23, in Burlington. Come out and support the Raiders!