WHS Sports Roundup

Showdown with Revere Monday for boys lacrosse

The Winthrop High boys lacrosse team will play the biggest game in the short history of the lacrosse program at WHS when coach Brian Donnelly and his Vikings host Revere Monday afternoon on the turf at Miller Field.

At stake for Winthrop will be the undisputed championship of the South Division of the Northeastern Conference. Winthrop is undefeated in the South Division, while Revere has one loss — that coming via a 16-7 defeat at the hands of the Vikings a month ago.

Winthrop dispatched a pair of NEC foes this past week, easily handling Everett and Lynn by scores of 14-3 and 14-1 respectively.

In Monday’s contest with Lynn, which is a co-op team comprised of Lynn Classical and Lynn English, Pat Sennott reached the back of the Lynn net for seven goals to pace the Viking offense.

Aiden Cifini had a hat trick on his birthday and Matt Hurley was able to find the goal twice. Joe Mahoney, who had two goals, played the majority of the game with a fine two-way effort in what Donnelly described as “both an offensive weapon and a defensive monster.”

Chris Rodriguez, who transferred from BC High, turned in a superb game at long-pole middie, getting some key ground balls and being able to clear the ball down the field.

The twin wins were a nice rebound for the Vikings, who dropped their first game of the year at non-league rival Dracut last Wednesday.

“Dracut is a very strong team,” said Donnelly. “We played an excellent, high-paced game throughout the first half with a back-and-forth game. It was 5-4 Dracut going into the end of the first half. Our defense was able to handle their high-paced attack and we had some amazing saves by Drew DiMento.

“However, Dracut really turned it on in the second half and, because of lighter numbers at middie, they were able to overtake us in the third, scoring seven goals. Austin Daignault  and Joe Mahoney were workhorses for us at middie, playing the majority of the game, with Austin coming up with some key goals at the offensive end. Drew DiMento played one of his best games with some big saves.

“Our biggest issue was that we were were unable to clear the ball from our defensive end and we conceded many of the faceoffs because their player was very skilled,” added Donnelly. “Overall it was an excellent gauge of what we need to work on leading into the back end of the season and to give us an idea of the caliber of teams we will see in the playoffs.

“As we move into the second half of the year, we are really hoping to see our seniors step up and make sure that we continue to come together as a team.,” continued Donnelly. “Our biggest strength is that we have a variety of offensive weapons who play together as a team excellently and who are not selfish whatsoever with the ball. Defensively, we have two excellent, long-pole middies who share time and a great core. We just need to step up our level of communication. As always, Drew DiMento is our rock in goal.”

The Vikings, who stand at 10-1 overall, were scheduled to travel to Medford, the 2018 NEC North Division champion, today (Thursday). That contest will serve as a nice tuneup for Monday’s big encounter with Revere.

Girls lacrosse wins three straight as Carleton reaches 200 points

The Winthrop High girls lacrosse team enjoyed a successful week, winning all three of its contests to improve to 7-3. Coach Ben Cimmino’s Lady Vikings recorded wins over Gloucester (10-7), Saugus (13-2), and Malden (16-5).

“Maura Dorr controlled the draws in the Gloucester game, which really helped us set the tempo,” said Cimmino. “Caroline Kinsella played great up-and-down the field.

“At Malden, many of our younger girls got on the field and played quality minutes,” noted Cimmino. “Emma Turner took some draws and did a great job. The Saugus game was just a great team win in which a lot of the girls contributed to the victory.”

The winning streak was highlighted by the attainment of the 200-point career milestone by Lady Viking captain Emma Carleton in the contest with Gloucester.

“Emma has been a tremendous leader for us this year,” said Cimmino. “I think a lot of people know her for all the scoring she does, but her real value comes off the field. As a senior captain and leader, she has exceeded all of my expectations. The team is closer than ever and she’s been a pleasure to coach for the past three years.”

Cimmino and his crew were scheduled to take on archival Revere yesterday (Wednesday) in a contest in which the Lady Vikings were seeking to avenge a last-minute, one-goal loss earlier in the season.

Winthrop will host Salem tomorrow (Friday) and will entertain Fontbonne Academy Monday evening at 6:30 under the lights at Miller Field. They will travel to Lynnfield next Wednesday and will return home to face Gloucester next Friday.

WHS boys tennis improves to 9-1

The Winthrop High boys tennis team continued its impressive play this season with a pair of hard-fought victories against Northeastern Conference opponents this past week.

The Vikings first earned a 3-2 victory at Beverly. Chris Finn, Winthrop’s third singles player, shut out his Panther rival with a perfect 6-0, 6-0 performance.

The first doubles duo of Sam Yarrow & Kevin Dorr won their match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. With Winthrop’s top single players, Corey Cherico at number one and Michael Lupo at number, both having fallen in their matches, the outcome of the match came down to the second doubles contest.

With players and fans from both sides watching, the Winthrop tandem of Augie Cherico & Alessio Narco stood tall under the pressure and prevailed in a hard-fought battle, 6-4, 6-3.

“Both Augie and Alessio really came through for us with the match on the line,” said WHS head coach Marie Finn. “Alessio especially was on fire. He held his serve in every game and made some beautiful shots.”

Finn and her crew then took on Somerville, one of the top teams in the NEC, and pulled out another 3-2 victory.

Chris Finn faced his toughest match of the season at third singles, but earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory, to remain unbeaten for the year. “Chris is incredibly competitive,” said Finn. “He simply refuses to lose.”

Yarrow & Dorr won handily at first doubles, 6-1, 6-3, but the second doubles team of Augie Cherico & Rilind Bytyqi fell, 2-6, 5-7, as did Corey Cherico at first singles, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

That left matters up to Lupo at second singles. The match became high drama when Lupo and his Highlander counterpart each won a set, 6-4, and then the third and deciding set came down to a tiebreaker.

Lupo seized the initiative, jumping out to a  6-2 advantage and needing one more point to claim the match. Michael then put the pressure on his opponent, lobbing every ball across the net and forcing the Somerville player to make a shot.

Lupo’s strategy paid off when the Somerville player eventually committed an unforced error, giving Winthrop the victory.

“This team just continues to find a way to win,” said Finn. “This may be the best team in Winthrop High history. We also have a large number of underclassmen who are working hard every day and who bode well for the future of the program.”

The Vikings were set to take on Marblehead yesterday (Wednesday) and will entertain Beverly in a rematch tomorrow (Friday).

They will travel to Peabody on Tuesday and to Swampscott next Wednesday.

Girls tennis team makes it four in a row

The Winthrop High girls tennis team extended its winning streak to four matches with two victories this past week.

In a 3-2, nail-biter of a victory over Danvers last Wednesday, the Lady Vikings’ winning serves came from #1 singles player Sofie LaFratta, #3 singles Natalia Kirilova, and the first doubles duo of Sara Fucillo & Olivia Driscoll.

Coach Mike Nickerson’s crew then duplicated that feat this past Monday with a 3-2 triumph over a Somerville team that entered the match with a 6-1 record.

LaFratta won her match at first singles, Kirsten Griffiths triumphed at second singles, and the tandem of Sara Fucillo & Olivia Driscoll closed out the victory with a triumph over their Somerville counterparts at first doubles.

Nickerson and his crew were scheduled to host Marblehead yesterday (Wednesday) and will trek to Beverly tomorrow (Friday). They will travel to Saugus on Monday and entertain Swampscott next Wednesday.

WHS softball team breaks into win column

The Winthrop High softball team earned its first victory of the season with a 14-2 triumph over Somerville this past Monday that was halted after six innings because of the mercy rule.

The contest was a fairly close affair entering the sixth, with the Lady Vikings holding a 7-2 advantage, but the Winthrop girls exploded for seven runs in the sixth to put the game on ice.

Sofia Vitale pitched all six innings, striking out 10 opponents and issuing only three walks.

Winthrop lead-off hitter Summer Tallent led the Lady Viking offensive attack, going 4-for-4 with four singles, three RBI, and four runs scored. A number of other Lady Vikings also swung big bats to contribute mightily to the winning effort: Rachel Farley was 2-for-5 with a single, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored; Nelly Carter went 2-for-4 and scored a run; Bella Perrotti was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI; and Katie Gagnon went 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and three runs scored, while also reaching on an error.

“We had 14 hits and the defense committed just two errors,” said WHS head coach Dave Guffey. “We played our most complete game of the year. It was nice to get a win and show how well we can play.”

Guffey and his crew were scheduled to host Marblehead yesterday (Wednesday) and will travel to Beverly today (Thursday). They will entertain Saugus on Monday and travel to non-league rival Wakefield on Tuesday before returning home to face Swampscott next Wednesday.

Holzbach shines at NEC Fr/So Meet

Lady Viking Beatriz Holzbach turned in an outstanding performance at Saturday’s Northeastern Conference Freshman/Sophomore Meet that was held at Danvers High. Beatriz attained the ribbon podium in two events, taking second place in the 400 intermediate hurdles in a time of 73.4 seconds and grabbing third place in the long jump with a leap of 15’-0”.

Teammates Nora McCarey and Julia Marcoccio also came home with ribbons for finishing in the top eight in their individual events. Nora finished third in the 400 dash in 64.9 and Julia came across the line in sixth place in the 800 in a clocking of 2:58.3.

The Lady Viking 4 x 100 relay quartet also earned ribbons for their eighth place finish in 57.9.

On the boys’ side, Chris Capuccio medaled in two events. Chris finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 18’-0” and sixth in the 200 dash in 25.1.

Young WHS sailing team improving

Although the Winthrop High sailing team has yet to record a win after losses this past week to Gloucester and the Pingree School, WHS head coach Catherine Domina said she has seen a lot of improvement in her young team since the start of the season,

“John Cataldo and Ben Pew took first place in one of the races with Gloucester,” said Domina. “Elizabeth Collins, with crew Shane Fitzpatrick, took second place in two of the three races with Pingree.

“Despite the losses, the individuals on the team are making great strides. They are applying more tactical ‘team’ moves during the races, such as covering an opponent’s boat to let one of their own teammates catch up,” the coach added.

Domina and her crews were set to meet Beverly yesterday (Wednesday) and the Landmark School today (Thursday).

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