Girls cross country team takes aim at league title

The Winthrop High girls cross country team won their fourth meet in a row and moved one step closer to a Northeastern Conference South Division title with a 17-42 triumph over Lynn English Tuesday in a race held on the Lynn Woods course Tuesday.

Jordan Griffiths led a wave of four Lady Viking runners who crossed the finish line ahead of their English rivals with a time of 23:42. She was followed by teammates Carly O’Keefe in 24:02, Kaitlyn Hersey in 24:15, and Corey Charvis in 24:43.

“This was a great, tight pack for the first four girls,” said WHS head coach Warren MacPhail. Michaela McCarthy completed the Winthrop scoresheet with a seventh place finish in 26:32 to cement the victory. Maria Rago finished in the top 10 with an eighth place effort in 27:01 despite running on a badly twisted ankle.

Other Lady Vikings who competed were Julia Wallace in 27:42, Erica Mazzone in 28:56, Alex Ferri in 31:28, Abbey Evans in 32:25, Lauren Costigan in 32:49, and Jenn Collignon in 34:03. “Jenn finished all bloodied up,” noted MacPhail, “but she’s a tough competitor.”

The Lady Vikings now will host Saugus Tuesday afternoon on the Deer Island course as they seek to finish their NEC South Division schedule with a perfect 5-0 record to claim the South championship.

“We’re hoping to bring back the South title back to the Island,” said MacPhail, who noted that his girls last won the title in 2007.

On the boys side, English prevailed by a shutout score of 15-55. Nick Floyd was the top Viking performer with an eighth place effort in 21:58. Mike Gennaco was next in 10th place in 22:49, followed by Jerry Driscoll in 11th in 23:13, Brian Manning in 12th in 23:18, and Joe Bosco in 14th in 23:46.

Also running for Winthrop were Leo Haskell (25:57), Mario Mazzone (26:18), and Frank Mazzuchelli (31:02).

“It was a good effort against a good team on a difficult trail course,” said MacPhail, whose troops will close out their season next Tuesday against Saugus on Deer Island.

Girls soccer team defeats Lynn Classical

The Winthrop High girls soccer team defeated Lynn Classical 2-0 last week. After the teams had battled to a scoreless first half, Coach Tracy Martucci’s Lady Vikings broke the deadlock on goals by sophomore Liana Ferullo and senior Haley Benson to come away with the triumph.

“It was nice to get a victory, but the game was a bit frustrating for us because we dominated the play at both ends, but only managed two goals,” said Martucci, who noted that her team had 16 shots on goal in each half. “We weren’t able to finish our scoring chances which has been a problem for us all year.”

Senior keeper Johnna Fisher earned the shutout, her third of the season.

On Monday evening under the lights at Miller Field, the Lady Vikings took on Saugus, a team that had a fairly easy time with Winthrop the first time they met en route to a 6-0 win over the Lady Vikings. However, the rematch proved to be a different story, as Martucci adjusted her defense to feature a two-sweeper defensive alignment. The result was a slim 1-0 lead for Saugus at the half, the lone marker coming on a wondrous corner kick that curled high into the Winthrop net beyond Fisher’s grasp.

Although Saugus tacked on two more tallies after the intermission for the 3-0 finale, Martucci was pleased with her team’s effort. “We played them fairly evenly this time around,” said the coach, “which is an indication of how much we’ve improved over the course of the season.”

Martucci and her squad hosted Lynn English yesterday (Wednesday) and will entertain Shawsheen Tech Friday. They travel to Revere next Tuesday and host Medford next Wednesday.

Boys soccer team ties Classical, Shawsheen

The ever improving Winthrop High boys soccer team came through with a pair of ties in hard fought contests this past week.

Coach Pasquale D’Amore’s squad battled Northeastern Conference rival Lynn Classical to a 2-2 deadlock last week and then dueled non league foe Shawsheen Tech to a 4-4 standoff Monday.

“The boys have been working hard and getting better with every game,” said D’Amore. “Both matches were very exciting from beginning to end.”

Seniors Marco Bove and Chris Batts reached the back of the net for the goals against Classical. Junior Joe D’Amore (who shares the team scoring lead with Bove with five goals each) scored twice against Shawsheen, with Bove and D.J. Estrada adding single tallies.

“We have a nice mix of seniors and a lot of promising freshmen and sophomores,” added the coach. “We’ve held our ground against some of the best teams in the league throughout the season. The boys deserve a lot of credit for their hard work and effort.”

D’Amore and his crew, who qualified for the state tournament in their first game this season thanks to a victory over Division 3 rival Lynn Tech, have a busy week on tap. They traveled to Lynn English yesterday (Wednesday) and will trek to Swampscott Friday and to Shawsheen Saturday.

They return home to host Revere under the lights at Miller Tuesday evening that will be highlighted by Senior Night festivities at which senior captains Batts and Chris Firicano and fellow seniors Bove, Igli Dervishi, Jordan Ekidat, Taj Generazzo, and Kris Huntoon will be honored for their contributions to the WHS soccer program.