Girls Hockey Team Powers Past Marblehead and Everett

The Winthrop Lady Bulldogs hockey team, an amalgam of girls from Winthrop, Lynn, and Saugus, shook off a tough 2-1 season opening loss to Shrewsbury and powered their way to victories of 5-3 over Marblehead and 5-0 over Everett this past week.

“Our season opener was very a frustrating game for us,” said Lady Bulldog head coach Anthony Martucci. “We appeared to have scored a couple of goals, but the lamp never was lit, and we also were whistled for eight penalties to only two for Shrewsbury.

“Plus, it was the first game of the season and we played tentatively, so we were not at our best,” added the coach.

However, the twin wins over North Cape League rivals Marblehead and Everett restored the faith in the Lady Bulldogs’ fans that this should be a banner season for the local team.

The highlight of the week was the performance by junior Mackenzie Clark of Lynn, who scored two goals and added an assist in the Everett contest to break the 100 point barrier for her career.

Courtney McTague, one of the girls from Saugus who are new to the Lady Bulldog program this season, also lit the lamp twice against Everett. Captain Taylor Brown also scored a goal, as she closes in on 75 career points, which is quite a feat for a defenseman.

“In addition to Taylor, we’ve been getting some excellent play from Winthrop girls such as Anna Fucillo, Caroline McKinnon, Amanda Cordes, and Julianna Kenney,” said Martucci. The coach also cited the play of Lynn’s Chelsey Bartlett and the contributions of the Saugus contingent of McTague, Kara Donati, Kat Salvetti, Ariana Dembro, and Hannah LoPresti.

And then of course, there is the Lady Bulldog goalie, Lynn eighth grader Katie Burt, who is already demonstrating that she will be the best in the league this season. “Katie is amazing,” lauded Martucci. “She is an incredible asset for the team. There is no one better.”

Martucci and his crew were set to take on Masconomet Regional yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) at Gov. Dummer Academy as the Sun Transcript was going to press. Masco and Winthrop battled to a pair of tie games last season, so the affair should prove to be an early season test for Winthrop against a strong league rival.

The Lady Bulldogs will host Beverly next Wednesday at 6:00 at Larsen.