Sports 09-28-2017

WHS sports roundup

WHS boys soccer defeats English, 2-1

The Winthrop High boys soccer team earned a well-played 2-1 victory over Lynn English Monday on the local pitch.

Junior forward Pat Sennott put Winthrop on the board after taking a nice pass from junior striker Jaylin Cordes and then Cordes scored his first goal of the season to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

English reached the back of the net before the first half ended to leave matters at 2-1 at the intermission, but the WHS defense held firm in the second 40-minutes of play to preserve the victory.

“We controlled the game nicely, with great build up and possessing the ball well,” said WHS head coach Kyle Gagin. “Junior center backs Rilind Bytiqi and Steve Tracy did a great job both defensively and distributing the ball to get the offense going. Junior outside backs Asa Baurle and Jack Silva also played well for us on defense.”

Other Vikings who earned plaudits from Gagin included guys sophomore midfielders Kevin Dorr and Abdul Hamada, freshman John Langone, “who had another great game,” and freshman Joshuan Flores, who made his debut as left back and looked “very strong,” according to Gagin.

“It’s been great to see the underclassmen putting in some great games as they will be leading the program in a few years,” added Gagin.

Last Saturday the Vikings dropped a 1-0 decision to Stoneham (a fellow Division 4 school that factors into the Vikings’ hopes to qualify for the post-season state tourney) in a contest that was moved from Cellucci Field to Malden Catholic because Cellucci was unplayable after last week’s heavy rains that also had forced a postponement of two of the Vikings’ contests earlier in the week.

“We controlled a majority of the game, but couldn’t put in our chances,” said Gagin. “Rilind Bytiqi and Steve Tracy had very fine games settling the ball and distributing it well.

“However, we had some trouble creating a lot of chances despite the amount of possession we had and we just couldn’t finish,” added the coach.

Cordes played well and was able to test the keeper on a couple of occasions.

“Overall, I was happy with how we played, we just couldn’t put our chances away,” noted Gagin. “The lone goal from Stoneham was scored off a cross in the first half, which has been kind of the story of our season — not winning 50/50 balls.”

The Vikings host Gloucester today (Thursday) and will entertain New Mission Saturday. New Mission is another D-4 foe that serves as a qualifier for Winthrop for the post-season state tourney. Winthrop plays Stoneham and New Mission twice each and needs to win two of those games in order to qualify for the tourney with a .500 record against fellow D-4 schools.

Gagin and his crew will trek to Saugus on Monday and travel to New Mission on Wednesday before returning home to face Everett next Thursday.

 

WHS girls triumph;MacPhail paces boys

Camilla Miranda-Llovera and Cormac MacPhail continued their winning ways for the Winthrop High girls and boys cross country teams, with both racing to first- place finishes in their teams’ dual meets at Salem this past Tuesday.

Camilla led the Lady Vikings to a 24-34 victory, outrunning the field with a time of 22:58 over the 3.1 mile course.

Caroline Zuffanti turned in a solid third place effort in a clocking of 27:20.

“Caroline has been so steady all season,” noted WHS head coach Warren MacPhail.

Ashley Miles was the next Winthrop runner across the line, taking fourth place, in what MacPhail termed, “a break-out meet for Ashley. She came up big by placing fourth overall. Ashley said last week she thought a big meet was coming and it did.”

Zara Powell took sixth place in 28:38 and Kat Thano clinched the meet with a seventh-place finish in 28:47.

Other Lady Vikings who competed were Kim McDuffee in 34:00, Liz McDuffee in 35:30, Mary Teixeira in 35:46, and Laura Blestas in 35:47.

On the boys’ side, MacPhail out-sprinted spring track fellow miler Billy Beauregard from Salem to secure his second win of the season in a time of 17:48.

Other Viking runners were Michael Angelo Marcoccio in seventh place in 22:03,

Wilton Lawton in ninth spot in 22:17, and Ari Hain in 11th place in 22:59.

“Wil had a break-out meet and is on a mission to bring Cormac closer by the end of the season,” noted MacPhail.

Both the boys and girls squads will be back in action this Tuesday when they host

Swampscott and Gloucester in a tri-met on the Island.

 

From the Press Box

The Playoffs

The month of October begins the baseball playoffs and the MIAA high school football playoffs begin on Oct. 27 and 28.

The Boston Red Sox magic number to win the American East title stands at three (as of Tuesday morning). The Sox play four games with Houston this week at Fenway Park. Will the Sox open the playoffs with Houston? The possibility of nine games with Houston could be the key to a World Series for the Sox.

Congrats are in order for manager John Farrell. If the Sox capture the title it would be t heir second American East title in a row. The Sox won the World Series in 2013 and it would give Farrell four titles in four years.

The Vikings are in Division 6 North. The top eight teams make the MIAA playoffs. The Lynnfield Pioneers would be the favorite in the division. The Vikings had a (3-4) record in 2016 but had to play an undefeated St. Mary’s of Lynn team. St. Mary’s played in the Division 4 super bowl. The Spartans dropped to Division 7 North this year.

 

Extra Points

Congratulations to coach Kenny Hodgkins, coach of Wentworth Women’s tennis team, defeating Salve Regina University (9-4) for their first victory of the season.

 

Trivia: Can you name the National football league (NFL) player from a Northeast Conference School? (Answer to follow)

 

Lynn English improved to (3-0) with a (14-0) victory over Cape Ann league foe North Reading.

Northeast Conference Central leader, Lynn Classical (3-0) received a pair of rushing touchdowns to defeat Revere (12-6) in overtime.

Salem defeated Saugus (22-19) for their third victory of the campaign. Vinnie Gaskins finished the night with 156 yards on 16 carries, Saugus continues its search for its first win of the season when the Sachems host NEC rival Lynn English at Stackpole Field. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

 

Trivia Answer: Breno Giacomini was the starting right tackle for the Houston Texans on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. Geno played for the Malden ‘Golden’ Tornadoes (Class of 2003). Geno played for the Louisville ‘Cardinals’ and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers.

Danvers defeated Medford (45-6) the ‘Falcons’ (3-0) have scored 83 points and the defense has only allowed 6 points Marblehead defeated Peabody (21-&. The Magicians improved to (3-0). The Marblehead-Danvers game will decide the winner of the NEC North (Large Division) Malden, Medford and Somerville are winless in the NEC.

The Salem ‘Witches’ (3-0) and the Big Blue of Swampscott (3-0) will play Friday night at Bertram Field in Salem, in a battle of the unbeaten. The winner could end up as champions of the Northeast Conference South. Marblehead has won 15 straight Northeast Conference games. The Magicians play host to Beverly on Thursday night because of the Friday night Jewish Holiday.

 

Northeastern Conference South

W-L                  PF-PA

Swampscott                3-0                   141-23

Salem                                    3-0                   85-33

Lynn English              3-0                   68-36

Saugus                                   0-3                   60-113

Winthrop                               0-3                   14-105

 

 

Winthrop Vikings lose to the Swampscott Blue

 

By: Jim Lederman

The Vikings traveled to Blocksidge Field on Saturday afternoon. The Big Blue behind the outstanding play of quarterback Colin Frary defeated the Vikings (48-6).  The Big Blue captain passed for three touchdowns and ran for one.

Frary scored on a two-yard run to give Swampscott a (7-0) lead after the first quarter. The Vikings defense was strong in the first half.

Frary drove Swampscott 46 yards down the field just before halftime. Isaiah Bascon’s three-yard touchdown gave the Blue a 14-0 lead. Bascon added his second touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. His seven-yard touchdown boosted Swampscott to a 21-0 lead.

The Vikings had the highlight touchdown of the game. Quarterback Jake Adamson combined with speedster Jaidon Brown for a 40-yard touchdown, 21-7 Swampscott.

The Big Blue silenced the crowd two plays later when Frary hooked up with Jonathan Oriakhi (28-7) Big Blue.

Swampscott scored 20 points in the fourth quarter.

The Vikings seeking their first win of the season travel to Lynnfield on Friday night (7 p.m.) the Vikings will play at the Pioneer Stadium.

Lynnfield (3-0) has scored 87 points with victories over Newburyport, Wayland and last Friday night a (27-0) win over Amesbury.

Last season, the Pioneers clinched sole possession of the Cape Ann Baker Division. The championship was the Pioneers fifth in a row and sixth in the nine-year tenure of coach Neil Weidman.

The Pioneer were the No. 4 seed in Division 3A North. Lynnfield defeated Northeast Tech (34-14). Undefeated St. Mary’s of Lynn eliminated the Pioneers in the semi-finals (44-24).

The entire backfield returned for the 2017 season quarterback Matt Mortellite and running backs Anthony and Tyler Murphy are offensive threats.

This is the second meeting of Lynnfield and Winthrop. In 2014 the two teams were undefeated when they played in a super bowl playoff at Miller Field. The Pioneers prevailed.

Let the Games Begin!

WHS sports Years

10 years ago

Sept. 27, 2007

The WHS football team overcame a 13-0 deficit to roll to a 35-25 victory over Lynn Classical at a soggy Miller Field Friday evening. Viking captain Joe McDermott ran for three touchdowns to lead the way for the first victory for new head coach Sean Driscoll. McDermott rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries. Backfield mate Chris Beranger ran for 104 yards on 18 carries, including a 57 yard TD scamper. Sophomore quarterback Will Milano scored on a keeper.

Amber Miller, Alyssa Martucci, and Julie Dowwon, and Haley Benson scored the goals for the WHS girls soccer team in a 4-4 tie with Marblehead.

The WHS golf team defeated Lynn English and Revere. In the Revere victory, Rob Swanson, playing at #3, led the way with an 8-1 win over his Patriot counterpart. Against English, freshman Jake Rand paced the Vikings with an 8-1 win at No. 4.

Joe Wallace paced the boys and Maria Merlino paced the girls in victories for the WHS cross country teams in their meet with Lynn English.

 

20 years ago

Oct. 2, 1997

The Winthrop High football team improved to 3-0 with a 35-20 win over Lynn English Friday night at the Manning Bowl. Joey Murray scored three touchdowns, including a 36-yard TD reception from Justin Ruggiero. Fellow running back Reynaldo Agostinelli scored two TDs for Coach Tony Fucillo’s Vikings.

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