Viking Boys Hockey Remains Undefeated and Atop D-4 Power Rankings
The Winthrop High boys hockey team remained undefeated at 11-0-1 with a 5-1 victory over Northeastern Conference (NEC) South Division rival Beverly Saturday afternoon at Larsen Rink. The win also kept the Vikings atop the Division 4 power rankings, well ahead of their closest competitors in D-4.
Coach Dale Dunbar’s squad, which sits in first place in the NEC North with a 5-0-0 mark, got off to a fast start and never looked back. The Vikings grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opening period on goals by Phil Boncore (assisted by Petey Silverman) and Mike Holgersen (assisted by Billy Hayes). Winthrop doubled their advantage in the middle period thanks to another lamplighter from Boncore (assisted by Silverman and Holgersen) and a goal from Luke Gthinji (assisted by Rob Rich). Jackson Andy capped off the night with a power play goal in the third period, assisted by Silverman and Holgersen.
Dunbar and his crew were scheduled to travel to Endicott College last night (Wednesday) for a key battle with NEC North rival Danvers, which presently is in second place in the NEC North and trails Winthrop by two games in the loss column.
They will return home on Saturday to host Marblehead, another NEC North opponent, at Larsen for a 1:00 opening face-off. They will travel to non-league opponent Essex Tech next Wednesday evening.
Gymnasts Vault Past Peabody, Now at 4-0
The Winthrop High gymnastics team improved its record to 4-0 with a 128.7-89.15 victory over Peabody this past week.
Winthrop started the meet on bars. Sara Jurovich performed well, scoring a 7.0. Captain Shannon Abbott followed with a 6.7. Eighth grader Macy Werstak hit her routine for a fourth place finish at 7.3. Captain Ellie O’Donnell hit her new routine for third place at 7.65. Isabella Rice hit her bar routine with a second place, scoring an 8.0, and sophomore Zoe Rey took top honors, sticking her dismount for a score of 8.2.
The second event, the balance beam, began with a first-time appearance of junior Melissa Cash, who stuck her routine to get the Vikings going with a score of 7.4. Freshman Charlotte Zarba hit her routine for a 7.4. Werstak finished with a 7.7, good for fourth place, O’Donnell scored an 8.0 for third, and the duo Rey and Rice hit their routines for scores of 8.25 and 8.3 respectively for the top two spots.
Sophomore Mackenzie Lynch, who was competing for the first time this season, flew over the table on her first vualt and she landed on all fours. “Mackenzie had a little extra adrenaline and went airborne,” said WHS coach Christa Vaccaro. “Luckily she was just a little shaken up, but pulled herself together and performed her handspring perfectly, scoring a 7.8 on her second vault.”
Junior Brooklyn Banfield followed with a 7.9, a mark equaled by Jurovich. Abbott hit her 1/2 twisting-handspring scoring, an 8.0 for third place. O’Donnell. pushing her way through the meet with a lingering sinus infection, hit her new full-twisting handspring with a score of 8.55. Werstak finished in first place with the highest score of the meet, an 8.6.
Entering their last event, the floor exercise, the Vikings held a commanding lead, 96.45-63.65. First up on the floor was Banfield, who was competing for the first time on this event this season and scored a respectable 7.8. Abbott followed with a 7.9. Werstak and Rice tied with an 8.05. O’Donnell hit her routine for 8.3 to take first place.
Rey pulled up lame after landing off-balance in her second tumbling pass and coach Peter Gobiel stopped her routine.
“Zoe is fine, a little sore, but with the hardest meets of the season a few days away, there was no sense pushing things,” said the veteran WHS mentor.
Girls Hockey Tops Shawsheen, 6-1
The Winthrop High girls hockey team overcame a slow start in its contest at Shawsheen Tech last Wednesday to skate away with a 6-1 victory over their Northeast Hockey League (NHL) rival.
Shawsheen struck for a goal just 25 seconds after the opening face-off, but the Lady Vikings shook off the early deficit and soon took control of the contest.
“This was a great road win for us,” noted WHS head coach Anthony Martucci. “It did not start out great as only 25 seconds into the game Shawsheen scored and we were down 1-0. It was a strange start. We had pressure in their end, and they kind of threw the puck out, and one of their wingers was able to jump on it and beat our D off the corner. She threw a puck to the net that just kind of snuck through.
“After that though, it was all us, and it started with the relentless attack of freshman Angela Coscia,” continued Martucci. “This was Angie’s best game so far this season. She just seemed like she was on a mission from the drop of the puck and she did not stop until the final buzzer.”
Coscia scored the equalizer to knot matters at 1-1 and Winthrop took off from there. A goal from Izzy Cash made it 2-1 and another from Talia Martucci before the end of the period left the Lady Vikings with a 3-1 cushion.
Winthrop’s offense faced a roadblock in the middle period thanks to a parade of Lady Vikings into the penalty box.
“We felt there were some soft calls, but still we had to kill some penalties to keep our lead,” said Martucci. However, Winthrop overcame those hurdles, scoring two shorthanded goals by senior captains Hannah Parker and Sami Dimento, to increase the margin to 5-1 after two periods.
Cash notched her second goal of the game before Shawsheen tacked on a meaningless tally for the 6-2 finale.
“It was a great road win for us, especially having to travel to Bedford for an 8 p.m. game.” observed Martucci. “I thought the team responded well and played hard.
“I have to give extra credit to Angela Coscia and Chloe Couture,” Martucci continued. “Those two played their hearts out in this game and gave us a huge boost. Their speed and tenacity really helped push the pace, and made life difficult for Shawsheen.
“We also got a ‘warriors’ performance’ from our defense,” Martucci added. “There was a little sickness going through the group this past week and everyone was kind of fighting through it, but it seemed to hit our D corps the worst. But Saturday night that group showed a ton of heart by battling through that to help us win. Tegan Periera, Avalina Coffey, Amelia Spencer, captain Adrianna Rizzotto, Izi Hain, and Fran Indresano have been awesome all season, but this was an over-the-top ‘warrior performance’ from them.”
WHS goalie Riley Towse grabbed another win to add to her total of 27 wins in 33 career games.
On another note, Martucci lauded the WHS girls basketball team.
“The Winthrop girls hockey team would also like to acknowledge the hard work and efforts of the girls basketball team,” said Martucci. “Coach Hatzie’ and his squad are an awesome team. We attended their game against Saugus last week and it was inspiring to see how hard they play. I know that I personally was very impressed with the way they were able to come back from an early deficit and almost pull off a big win. That is a great team to watch because they play with a ton of grit and heart.”
Martucci and his crew will travel to Newburyport on Saturday and return home to entertain Marblehead next Wednesday at 6:10.
WHS Girls Basketball Defeats Salem, Gloucester
The Winthrop High girls basketball team turned in what head coach Anthony Hatzisavas termed “a pretty solid week,” winning two of its three contests with Northeastern Conference (NEC) rivals Saugus, Salem, and Gloucester.
Last Thursday’s encounter with Saugus saw the Lady Vikings get off to a slow start in which they trailed 16-2 after the first period.
“Saugus came out hitting some shots early and ours weren’t falling right away,” said Hatzisavas. “We talked after the quarter about picking up the speed on offense and to look inside and that’s what we did.”
The Lady Vikings sliced the Saugus lead to 21-15 at the half and maintained their momentum after the intermission, eventually bringing the contest back to level in the third period, setting the stage for an all-out finish.
“It was a back-and-forth battle against a very good basketball team,” said Hatzisavas. “Their best player made a shot at the buzzer of the shot clock over two of our defenders pretty deep from three to give them a lead in the fourth quarter. We were tied with about three minutes to go, but they made a couple of big shots to seal the win. I was very proud of our team effort and resilience.”
Bailey Ferguson led Winthrop with 11 points. Reese Brodin also reached double figures with 10 points. Kaylee Farrell hit for seven points and Grace Fleuriel had a big impact, pulling down 10 rebounds and chipping in with six points.
Two days later, Winthrop hosted Salem on Saturday morning and cruised to a 50-20 victory in which the Lady Vikings jumped out to a 22-2 lead and never looked back. Fleuriel netted 10 points and grabbed seven boards in only 15 minutes of action. “Grace is proving to be one of the best players in the league and has really been stepping up as a leader as well,” noted Hatzisavas.
This past Tuesday the Lady Vikings made the long trek to Gloucester worth the trip, coming home with a 52-36 victory.
“We went on the road to Gloucester and it is never easy getting off the bus when we go there,” said Hatzisavas. “We talked about how they came into our Christmas tournament and stole one against us in overtime. It was a chance to show how much better we have gotten since then and that’s what we did.”
Winthrop jumped out to a 12-4 lead after the first quarter thanks to a strong defensive effort. “Our Intensity and energy were amazing,” said Hatzisavas. “Something that stood out to me right away was the effort of freshman Angela Tshowa. We had her match up with their best player and she took her out of the game. Angela has been providing us with huge minutes and really boosting us on the defensive end. “ Tshowa finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.
“We talked after the first period about how we have to keep this going, one quarter at a time, and that’s what we did,” Hatzisavas added.
The Lady Vikings extended their advantage to 24-13 at the intermission, and when Gloucester made a run in the third period, Winthrop responded with an 8-0 run to start the fourth and pulled away for the 52-36 win.
Brodin hit for a game-high 14 points and Farrell reached double figures with 13 points, of which 11 came in the first half.
“Kaylee has been playing more on the wing and has been really thriving,” noted Hatzisavas.
Fleuriel was another major contributor to the victory, hitting for eight points and grabbing 12 rebounds. “Grace really controlled the game,” said Hatzisavas. “Our focus on offense has been to get her the ball in the middle and then let her read the defense from there, and she has been getting her teammates a ton of open looks.
“Guards Bailey Ferguson, Sophia Lindinger, Zoey Bogusz, and Poli Tsiotos have also been providing us with great minutes and are making a big impact,” added Hatzisavas.
The Lady Vikings head to Masconomet tomorrow (Friday) evening and will return home to host Danvers next Tuesday for a 6:00 opening tip.
“I believe we are making strides at the right time of the season,” said Hatzisavas of his crew, who presently are ranked 20th in the MIAA Division 4 power rankings. “We are a good basketball team and it is starting to show.”
Track Teams Meet Swampscott
The Winthrop High girls and boys indoor track and field teams took on Northeastern Conference rival Swampscott last week.
For the girls, the point-scorers were Mary Healy, who took first place in the high jump with a leap of 4’-2”; April Ferguson, who won the two-mile event in 14:29.7; Gabriela Currier with a second-place finish in the 50-yard hurdles in a time of 11.0; and Annabelle Giardino, who took second spot in the mile in 7:17.
On the boys’ side, the top performers were: Aaron Armistead, who took first place in the 50 yard hurdles with a time of 10.7 seconds and second-place in the high jump with a leap of 5’-0” to finish with eight points on the day; Liam Kenney, who won the 600 dash in a clocking of 1:37.1; Brady Tallent, who finished third in the hurdles with a clocking of 10.8; and Gabriel Perez, who scored a third-place point in the mile in 5:48.
WHS Boys Basketball Defeats Gloucester, Hosts Masco Tomorrow
The Winthrop High boys basketball team, which is coming off an exciting 50-46 victory over Gloucester this past Tuesday, will host Northeastern Conference North Division rival Masconomet tomorrow (Friday) evening. The opening tip is set for 7:00. In the victory over Gloucester, the Vikings turned in what head coach Quinton Dale II termed “a great team performance.” George Galuris led the Vikings with 17 points. Vasili Tsiotis hit for 12 points and had “a great all-around game,” said Dale. “We had an outstanding defensive performance from Ace Daignault. Spencer Parco and Alessio Marcoccio had two huge buckets for us in crunch time. Matt Reardon had a dominant defensive game and hit a clutch three-pointer to give us a two-point lead with 20 seconds left. “The boys have been finding their groove the last couple of weeks,” added Dale. “Last week we lost a close one at Saugus, 64-59, in a great team performance. We just missed a ton of free throws and Saugus hit some tough shots down the stretch.” Dale and his crew will trek to NEC South foe Danvers next Tuesday.