WHS Sports Roundup

Boys Soccer Team Kicks Off 2023 Season

The Winthrop High boys soccer team was scheduled to kick off its 2023 season yesterday evening (Wednesday) under the lights at Miller Field against Northeastern Conference South Division opponent Saugus.

“I am very excited about the upcoming season,” said WHS head coach Phil Ronan. “We have a very young team, mostly freshmen and sophomores, but very skilled. We still have

NEC all conference goalkeeper Mateo Martinez, so we should be in most games.

“It will be tough facing senior-laden teams who have the composure in tight situations, but it bodes well for the program,” continued Ronan. “It’s a much different culture compared to

previous years — more committed and less attitude. It should generate more attention and respect for the program.”

In a pre-season scrimmage last week with Lynn Classical, the Vikings yielded two early goals in the first 10 minutes, but outplayed their former NEC rival the rest of the way.

“We were sleepwalking for the first 10 minutes, which was my fault,” said Ronan. “We

went down 2-0, but outplayed them for the next 70 minutes and had a handful of chances, but  were horribly unlucky. I told them I was extremely proud of their performance.”

Ronan and his crew will travel to Swampscott tomorrow (Friday) and will return home to host Beverly on Monday and Arlington Catholic next Wednesday.

The Vikings will play an 18-game schedule featuring two contests against each of their four NEC South foes (Saugus, Swampscott, Salem, and Gloucester), one game against each NEC North Division rival (Marblehead, Beverly, Danvers, Masconomet, and Peabody), and  

five matches against non-league opponents Boston Collegiate (2), Arlington Catholic (2), and Maimonides.

WHS Girls Soccer Hosts Swampscott Sat.

The Winthrop High girls soccer team, which kicked off its 2023 season yesterday (Wednesday) at Saugus, will entertain Swampscott Saturday morning at 10:00 on the turf at Miller Field.

Veteran WHS head coach Tracey Martucci is upbeat about the coming season.

 “The pre-season went well,” said Martucci. “We have 43 girls this year, which are great numbers for our program, of whom nine are seniors.”

The 2023 edition of the Lady Vikings will be led by senior captains Hannah Parker and Shannon Abbott. The remaining seniors are Samantha Dimento, Daniela Gomez, Carolina Gonzalez, Hailey Forsyth, Malak Chahlaouy, Kaylee Farrell, and Reese Brodin.

After Saturday’s encounter with the Lady Big Blue, Martucci and her crew will make the long trek to Beverly on Monday.

The Lady Vikings will play an 18-game schedule, with two contests against each of their four NEC South foes (Saugus, Swampscott, Salem, and Gloucester), one game against each NEC North Division rival (Marblehead, Beverly, Danvers, Masconomet, and Peabody), and  

five matches against non-league opponents Excel Academy (2), Boston Latin Academy, Mystic Valley, and Lynn Classical.

Golfers Edged in Season-Opener

The Winthrop High golf team came close to giving new head coach Jack Wallace a victory in his head coaching debut.. But as we all know, close only counts in horseshoes and the Vikings came up just short by a score of 37.5-34.5 to Northeastern Conference rival Peabody last Friday at the Winthrop Golf Club (WGC).

“It was a great match and the team performed pretty well,” said Wallace.

The 2023 Viking linksmen will be led by senior captain Eli Wickham, who will be joined on the team by Tomas Babine, Louk Belghiti, Daniel Connolly, Andrew Faretra, Jake Galuris,

Declan Howard, Ryan Murphy, Joseph Rich, Nikita Rossi, Esteban Sierra Torres, Peter Silverman, and Dylan Sykes.

Wallace and his crew play at Marblehead today (Thursday) and will make the long bus ride to Gloucester next Wednesday before returning home to host Saugus at the WGC next Thursday.