By Cary Shuman
The Winthrop High School boys hockey team celebrated Senior Day with a strong 4-0 victory over Grafton Saturday afternoon at Larsen Rink.
The Vikings scored three unanswered goals in the first period while senior captain and goaltender Michael Donahue (21 saves) was Vezina Trophy-caliber in the net.
“As always, Michael’s our wall and gives us a chance to win every game,” lauded Head Coach Dale Dunbar. “He was bang on, and that’s the way we’re going to need him to be playing down the stretch, and we have all the confidence in the world in Michael.”
Sophomore Dom Spinale opened the scoring for Winthrop, assisted by junior Bert Kline.
Senior forward Jay Fotiades tipped a shot from senior defenseman Aidan Survilas to make it 2-0. Kline netted an unassisted goal for the triple-strike, first period.
Senior Luke Githinji scored a goal early in the second period to extend the advantage to 4-0, assisted by Fotiades.
Coach Dale Dunbar’s Vikings rebounded well from a 3-2 loss to Danvers.
“We really needed to come back strong after a disappointing loss to Danvers, especially a game of that magnitude,” said Dunbar. “We played three strong periods of hockey (versus Grafton), three zones of hockey. Everyone was checked in, so it was a good victory.”
Winthrop’s home matchup with the high school (and island) of Nantucket, scheduled for Monday, was canceled. The Vikings were set to host Wakefield Wednesday in the regular season finale.
VIKING NOTEBOOK
Based on its excellent record (11-6-1) and strength of schedule, Winthrop is currently the No. 3 seed and will open the MIAA Tournament with a home game at the sure-to-be-rocking Larsen Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center.
Head coach Dale Dunbar, who is a highly respected assistant to an NHL player agent, attended the Sweden-USA game in the Four Nations Cup Monday night at the TD Harden. Dunbar, who played alongside Cam Neely for the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins franchises, said he will be on hand for the Canada-USA showdown for the title Thursday night.