WHS boys soccer tops Arlington Catholic
The Winthrop High boys soccer team earned a 2-1 victory at Arlington Catholic last Friday. Captain Sebastian Yepes scored the first Viking goal on a header and Yahya Jaffar scored the game-winner with a great finish.
WHS goalkeeper Jackson Faber made a brilliant, game-saving stop in the waning moments of the contest to preserve the victory.
The Vikings came up just short in their other two matches this past week with Danvers (2-0) and Gloucester (1-0).
“We thoroughly outplayed Danvers in vast stretches of the game, but our inability to finish is our weakness,” said WHS head coach Phil Ronan. “We had plenty of opportunities, but no goals.
“It was the same story at Gloucester, a 1-0 loss with excellent chances,” Ronan noted. “We clearly outplayed them, but let them off the hook by not hitting the back of the net.
“The boys are working hard and as a coach, that’s all you can ask,” Ronan added.
The Vikings were scheduled to play at Salem yesterday (Wednesday), at Saugus on Monday, and at Swampscott on Tuesday.
Girls soccer working hard
Although the Winthrop High girls soccer team came up short in its recent matches with Swampscott and Danvers, WHS head coach Tracey Martucci saw encouraging signs from her squad.
“In our game with Swampscott, it was 2-0 at the half, which was great for us,” said Martucci. “We played well, but we just can’t seem to get our team chemistry on the field going. The final was 5-0..
“Then we traveled to Danvers, which is always very tough competition . They have been strong even as far back as when I played. They have a very good program,” Martucci said. “We unfortunately lost 9-0. But Poli Tsiotos had a great game, as well as junior JV goalie Marissa MacMullen, who had to step into the net for us and played about 65 minutes. That’s a big game for her to jump into and despite the score, she made high double-digit saves and we were super proud of her.
“My defense has been working hard all season with all the pressure from our opponents’ strong offenses, so I have to give them a shout-out as well,” Martucci added.
Martucci and her crew were scheduled to host Salem yesterday (Wednesday), Saugus on Monday, Swampscott on Tuesday, and Latin Academy next Thursday.
Busy week ahead for volleyball team
Although the Winthrop High volleyball team came up short in its contests with Northeast Regional and Saugus this past week, first-year head coach Jeremy Wein is seeing progress with his team’s performances.
“We had a tough couple of tough matches with Northeast Metro Tech and Saugus, but we will see them again and hopefully have a better result,” said Wein. “I think everyone is doing everything they can with the time they have. We have some incredible athletes who go to school like everyone else, get their homework done, come to practice, and go as hard as possible. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids and parents to build a program with.”
The Lady Vikings have a busy stretch this week and next. They were scheduled to take on Pioneer Charter of Saugus this past Monday and perennial Northeastern Conference power Masconomet this past Tuesday. They will play at Pioneer Charter of Everett tomorrow (Friday), at Northeast Regional next Monday, at Swampscott next Tuesday, and at Beverly next Thursday.
“Nothing gets easier, but we continue to work through fear and stay focused on making progress,” Wein added.
WHS cross country teams getting faster
Although the Winthrop High girls and boys cross country teams came up short in their meet this past week with Beverly on the course at Deer Island, WHS head coach Eric Ferguson was pleased with his runners’ improving performances.
“Although we lost to Beverly, we had multiple runners improve their race times from 1-3 minutes,” said Ferguson.
The members of the team who improved their times included .Vienna Cardoza (1:15), Haley DeMarco (3:01), Bailey Ferguson (1:59), Annabelle Giardino (1:38), Emma Holgersen (0:42), Sean McGloin (0:49), Owen Nargi (1:34), Gabriel Perez (1:48), and Miguel Rabuske (1:32).
“We continue to improve and have a collective goal of sending two teams (boys and girls) to the MIAA Divisional meet,” Ferguson added.
The Vikings were scheduled to trek up the coast to take on Marblehead at Gatchell’s Park yesterday (Wednesday) and will host Swampscott in two weeks.