Sports 02-03-2011

The Winthrop High hockey team enjoyed a runaway 10-1 victory over Salem Saturday afternoon at Larsen Rink.

Joe Scarfo, the fourth leading scorer in the Northeastern Conference, notched a hat trick and had two assists. Linemate Chris LeBlanc, who is the second leading scorer in the NEC, had a goal and two assists.

Other Vikings who took party in the “light the red lamp party” were Drayton Chasteen (two goals), Matt Todisco, Jake Rand, Bob Clewer, and freshman Chris Page, who notched his first career varsity goal.

Page also was credited with an assist on the goal by Bobby Clewer. Additional Vikings who earned assist points for their playmaking were Adam Lundberg and Nick Clewer (two assists each), Sean Donahue, Todisco, Dan Eruzione, and Mike Paulsen.

The contest also saw eighth grade netminder Ray Feeley take a turn between the pipes in the third frame to spell regular goalie Steve Waites.

Winthrop has a pair of key NEC contests on tap this week. The Vikings host Saugus Saturday evening at 7:20. Winthrop tied Saugus in their first encounter in the fourth game of the season when the Vikings battled back from a 3-0 deficit.

First place Peabody then comes to town next Wednesday for a 6:10 face off. The Tanners are 8-1-2 in the NEC, so a pair of Winthrop victories will move the Vikings (who are 5-2-2 in the NEC and 8-2-3 overall) into prime contention for the top spot.

Larsen should be rockin’ and rollin’ for both contests which will feature some of the best schoolboy talent on the North Shore.

“We’re taking it one game at a time,”said WHS head coach Dale Dunbar, whose squad is undefeated in its last 10 games and is riding a five game winning streak. “We know we can’t look past Saugus and we’re hoping for a lot of fan support for both of these games.”

Boys hoop team tops Revere, 66-62

The Winthrop High boys basketball team turned in a pair of solid efforts against two tough rivals from the Northeastern Conference Large Division, taking one contest and falling short in the other.

The Vikings came away with a hard fought 66-62 win over Revere Monday night in a contest that came down to the final minute. Winthrop had overcome a 37-31 halftime deficit thanks to the combination of a strong defensive effort that held Revere scoreless for the first 3:52 of the third period and the offensive play of Anthony Hatzisavas. Hatzi’ became a one man wrecking crew for the Vikings in the third frame, scoring 12 points to singlehandedly outscore the Revere team (which managed only seven points in the period) and propelling Winthrop into a 48-44 advantage at the third quarter marker.

More important, the Vikings had changed the momentum as both teams prepared for what would turn out to be an exciting final eight minutes of basketball. Revere came back to knot matters at 48-48 to start the final frame and the teams battled evenly the rest of the way.

However, it was Viking Michael Griffin who had a hand in all of the key plays down the stretch that pulled out the victory for Winthrop. Michael drained a three pointer that gave the Vikings a 63-61 lead and then hit a free throw to make it 64-62 (after Revere had hit a free throw). Although Griffin missed on his second charity stripe toss, Joe D’Amore tipped the ensuing rebound to keep the ball alive and Griffin grabbed the loose ball with just seconds left on the clock.

After a Winthrop timeout, Griffin made an inbounds pass to Quinton Dale who put in a basket to seal the win.

Griffin ended up as high scorer with 18 points, but key contributions were made by Hatzisavas with 14 points and 19 rebounds and Taj Generazzo who had an unusual double-double for a guard with 12 assists and 11 rebounds to go along with his seven points.

Friday’s encounter with perennial NEC power Lynn English was a closely fought battle from beginning to end. The score was deadlocked at 31-31 at the half and was a one point affair, 49-48 in favor of English, after three periods.

Although English eventually pulled away for a 70-60 victory, WHS head coach Dave Brown was pleased with his team’s performance. “English was coming off a win over Brockton, the number four ranked team, so for us to play them evenly for almost the entire game was quite an accomplishment,” said Brown. “We outrebounded them 41-30 and if we’d been able to hit our outside shots or shoot better from the free throw line, it would have been a different game.” Winthrop was just 1-for-14 from three point land and 17-for-28 from the charity stripe.

Dale had a super outing with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Griffin hit for 13 points and D’Amore reached double figures with 12.

The Vikings, who are 9-5, travel tomorrow evening (Friday) to Marblehead, a team that Winthrop is chasing for first place in the NEC Small School Division. Winthrop then will host Swampscott Tuesday.

Girls hockey team ties Shrewsbury, 1-1

The Winthrop High Lady Bulldog hockey team took on two of the top rated teams in the state this past week and showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with when state tourney time rolls around.

Although the Lady Bulldogs came up on the short of a 5-0 decision to defending state champ St. Mary’s of Lynn (which is riding an amazing 90 game unbeaten streak) last Wednesday before a huge crowd at the Lynn Arena, WHS head coach Anthony Martucci saw many positive signs from his team’s performance.

“This really was the first time that our team played a big time game like this in front of such a big crowd,” said the coach. “Both teams had their opportunities and St. Mary’s took advantage of theirs.”

St. Mary’s grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opening period, but Winthrop had some great chances toward the end of the first frame to get on the board, but could not capitalize. The Lady Bulldogs had two power play opportunities in the first part of the second period (and killed two St. Mary’s power plays), but still could not dent the St. Mary’s crease.

St. Mary’s then scored a backbreaking goal at the end of the second Winthrop power play when the St. Mary’s girl came off the bench and got a lead pass as she stepped onto the ice and skated in for a breakaway goal.

“That one really hurt,” said Martucci. “We were playing them evenly and then they got that third one.”

Despite the tough loss, the Lady Bulldogs came back a few nights later against a 15th ranked Shrewsbury team that had handed Winthrop a 2-1 loss in the season opener. Winthrop controlled the play from the outset, but was unable to finish its chances as Shrewsbury skated to a 1-0 lead. However, Taylor Brown (assisted by Chelsey Bartlett) lit the lamp with 5:40 to play to earn the tie.

“We were afraid there might be a letdown after the St. Mary’s loss, but the girls played well right from the start,” said Martucci. “We dominated the game and showed that we are a much improved team from the beginning of the season.”

Martucci and his crew make the long trek to Central Mass. to play a strong Gardner team on Saturday and then travel to Everett next Wednesday.

Girls track teams win five events in 62-34 triumph over Saugus

The Winthrop High girls indoor track team ran past Saugus, 62-34, last Wednesday. The Lady Vikings took five of the nine individual events, but superior depth proved the difference in the final outcome.

First place finishers for Winthrop were Julia Wallace in the high jump with a leap of 4-6; Jessica Dowson in the 50 yard hurdles in a time of 8.4; Amy Sena in the 1000 in 3:49.6; Kaitlyn Hersey in the mile in 6:13.4; and Jordan Griffiths in the two mile in 13:53.4.

The Lady Vikings also nabbed seven second place finishes that placed 21 points onto the Winthrop side of the score sheet. Those girls were: Ashley Jurovich with a shotput toss of 26-3 and a clocking of 54.7 in the 300; Katie Cochrane in the hurdles in 8.6; Lexi Vaccaro in the dash in 6.9; Haley Benson in the 600 in 1:56.6; Corey Chavis in the 1000 in 3:49.9; and Amanda Hersey in the mile in 7:10.6.

Adding single points to the Winthrop total with third place efforts were: Elizabeth Anderson with a throw of 24-7.5 in the shot; Christina Russo in the dash in 7.0; Althea Losannah in the 300 in 55.7; Maria Rago in the 600 in 2:12.3; and Wallace in the two mile in 15:41.9.

Brogan, Ekidat top scorers for boys track

Patrick Brogan won the two mile and Jordan Ekidat took second in two events to pace the Winthrop High boys indoor track team in their meet last week with Saugus.

Patrick won his race with a clocking of 12:29.5, while Jordan took second in the high jump with a leap of 5-4 and second in the 50 yard dash in 6.3 seconds.

Other point scorers for Winthrop were Paul Correale with a second place in the shotput with a toss of 35-9.5; Rob Pino with a third in the 50 yard hurdles in 8.8; Justin Casilla with a third in the 300 in 46.9; and Mario Mazzone with a third in the 600 in 1:52.5.

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