WHS Girls Soccer Blanks Salem, 6–0
The Winthrop High girls team put it all together at both ends of the pitch on Salem’s Bertram Field to come away with a 6-0 victory over the Witches last Wednesday evening.
“We went into that game knowing they had similar scores as us against the same teams, so we knew it was going to be anyone’s game,” said WHS head coach Tracey Martucci. “It was also their Senior Night, so we figured they were going to come out ready for us. But we played an incredible game and rose to the occasion.”
The Lady Vikings scored early and often in the first half to open up a 5-0 advantage at the intermission.
Senior Emma Holmes (unassisted), Reese Brodin (two unassisted goals), Kaylee Farrell (assisted by Hannah Parker), and Lily Tallent (also assisted by Parker) provided the offensive firepower for Winthrop.
Maddie Stiglets accounted for the final Winthrop tally in the second half, reaching the back of the Witches’ net on what Martucci termed “an amazing header,” with assists going to Talia Martucci and Emma Holmes.
The Lady Vikings then took on a potent Saugus squad, which had breezed to a 7-0 win over Winthrop in their first meeting a few weeks ago. However, the Lady Vikings came out strong and turned the tables on the Lady Sachems through the opening half, battling their Northeastern Conference rival to a nil-nil standoff.
“We knew we had to step up our game and ended up tied at the half, 0-0,” said Martucci. “We had a much better game against them and a lot more offense.”
Saugus finally broke through late in the second half for two goals and then tacked on a third with just six seconds to play for the 3-0 finale.
“Our sophomore goalkeeper, Amelia Spencer, had an amazing game,” said Martucci. “She has never played soccer before and has jumped Into the net for us this year and is getting better every game.”
This past Monday evening, the Lady Vikings battled another strong NEC opponent, Swampscott, in similar fashion. The contest was deadlocked at zero at the intermission, before the Lady Big Blue scored twice in the second half for a 2-0 victory.
“We had a phenomenal game against them as well,” said Martucci. “Our defense — Daniela Gomez, Emily Hoxhaj, Carolina Gonzalez, and Lizzy Quinn — played a strong game and held their offense off as long as they could. Senior Mia Norris played a strong two-way game both up front and helping out down low.”
In one of their two contests the previous week, the Lady Vikings took on a non-conference opponent, Excel Academy, and came away with a 5-1 victory.
“We started off a bit slowly, but came together as the game went on,” noted Martucci.
Talia Martucci scored her first varsity goal and Brodin added another to give the Lady Vikings a 2-0 edge at the intermission.
Winthrop received insurance markers in the second half from senior captain Lily Tallent, Kaylee Farrell (assisted by Martucci) , and Emma Holmes (assisted by Stiglets).
The Lady Vikings fell to Danvers, 6-0, in a contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate.
“At the half we were only down 2-0, which is a big deal for us against a team like Danvers,” said Martucci. “The girls played very well. We were attacking up front and solid in the back. Unfortunately they were just too much for us to keep up with. They scored two in the last few minutes, so to say we were playing evenly with Danvers is a positive.
“I’m super proud of how these girls are holding their own against very strong teams. The team has improved tremendously over the past few games and we hope to keep the momentum going as we enter the second half of the season.”
Martucci and her crew will host Swampscott in a rematch at Miller Field on the holiday Monday morning at 11:00 and will entertain non-league rival Matignon next Wednesday afternoon.
WHS Boys Showing Strong Improvement
Although the Winthrop High boys soccer team came up short in its two matches this past week, the Vikings continue to show steady improvement under the direction of first-year head coach Phil Ronan.
“We lost 2-0 to Salem last Wednesday, but played an excellent game,” said Ronan. “Goalkeeper Mateo Martinez was excellent in his return from injury. We had multiple scoring chances created by Loert Mana and Eron Muja, but couldn’t convert.”
The contest went down to the wire, with the Witches clinging to a 1-0 advantage right to the end. The Vikings pulled out all the stops in an effort to score the leveling tally, putting pressure on the Salem net over the final several minutes, but the Witches sealed the victory with less than a minute to go on a counterattack.
Ronan’s crew turned in another excellent effort this past Monday evening under the lights at Miller Field in a 3-0 loss to Saugus.
“Once again we had chances, but failed to convert,” said Ronan. “A positive note this season is that several of our freshmen are getting valuable experience from the minutes they are logging on the pitch with the varsity team.”
Ronan and his crew are scheduled to play at Peabody Saturday morning and at Swampscott on the holiday Monday morning. They will return home to entertain a pair of non-league opponents, Lynn Tech next Wednesday and Excel Academy next Thursday.
WHS Volleyball Looks To Get Back on Track
The Winthrop High volleyball team came up short in its matches this past week.
In a 3-0 loss to Masconomet (the set scores were 25-12, 25-18, 25-16), the highlights for the Lady Vikings included the performances of junior Mira Ivanis, who made two successful blocks, and seniors Gabby Golden and Hanna Essaoubi, both of whom served two aces.
Winthrop also dropped a contest to Swampscott by a similar, though closer, 3-0 score (25-20, 25-23, 25-19).
“This was an especially tough loss because we previously had defeated them,” said WHS head coach Lauren Kelly. “I’m hoping we can bounce back from this.”
Kelly and her crew were scheduled to travel to Beverly yesterday (Wednesday) and to make the long trek to Andover tomorrow (Friday) to meet non-league opponent Greater Lawrence Regional. They will return to the WHS gym next Wednesday to host Northeastern Conference rival Salem, with the JV game starting at 4:30 and the varsity at 6:00.