Viking Hockey Team Splits Two Contests
The Winthrop High boys hockey team split its two contests this past week.
Last Wednesday the Vikings celebrated New Year’s Eve in fine fashion with a 5-0 blanking of Saugus at Larsen Rink.
J.D. Parker scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal (unassisted) in the opening period and Ari Hain, assisted by captain Mike Brooks and Joey Hayes, made it 2-0 in favor of the Vikings with a lamp-lighter in the middle period.
Winthrop then put the game away with a trio of goals in the final 15 minutes: Robbie Tarantino from captain Joe Deeb; Jack Sicurella from Conlan Petersen; and Charlie Lane from Deeb and assistant captain Joey Holgersen.
Goalie Anthony Indrisano earned the shutout, turning aside 22 shots from the Sachems, who have moved from the North Division of the Northeastern Conference to the NEC’s South Division this season.
Three days later the Vikings entertained Gloucester (which has moved from the South Division to the North Division).
After Gloucester grabbed a 1-0 lead in the opening period, Brooks brought the contest back to level with a lamp-lighter in the second period, assisted by Sicurella.
However, the visiting Fishermen scored a pair of unanswered goals in the third period to hook the victory. WHS goalie Ryan Hovermale stopped 23 Gloucester shots.
WHS head coach Dale Dunbar and his crew, who now stand at 4-2-2 overall, were scheduled to host non-league rival Cambridge last night (Wednesday) and then will travel to the McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody to face Bishop Fenwick on Saturday.
They will return home next Wednesday evening to face NEC North archrival Marblehead, which is among the top-ranked teams in the state. The opening face-off is set for 6:10 p.m.
WHS Girls Hockey Drops Two Contests
The Winthrop High girls hockey team will seek to get back on the winning track after coming up short in a pair of contests this past week, their first losses of the season.
The Lady Vikings dropped a 6-1 decision to St. Mary’s of Lynn, the top-ranked team in the state in Division 1, last Wednesday, and then fell by a score of 7-1 at Peabody on Saturday.
Winthrop grabbed an early 1-0 lead to start the game against St. Mary’s on a goal by Mia Martucci, assisted by Julia Holmes, but the Lady Spartans responded with four unanswered goals before the first period ended.
St. Mary’s added a power play goal in the middle period and tacked on another lamp-lighter in the final period for the 6-1 finale.
“They were fast, they had great skills, and they were well-coached,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci.
In a 7-1 loss at Peabody three days later, the combo of Holmes, assisted by Martucci, scored on the power play for Winthrop in the opening period, but thereafter the contest belonged to the Lady Tanners, who took over sole possession of first place in the Northeast Hockey League.
“Peabody was fast, and they had some good offensive players, but we played about as bad as you could possibly play in the defensive zone, and it cost us,” said Martucci. “They wanted it more than us and it showed.”
Martucci and his crew, who now stand at 4-2 on the season (4-1 in the NHL behind undefeated Peabody), were scheduled to meet non-league foe Longmeadow this past Tuesday and will host Wakefield (another non-league opponent) Saturday at Larsen at 1:30 p.m. They then will trek to Medford next Wednesday evening.
Mahoney, Pote, Nargi Win for WHS Girls Track
Although the Winthrop High girls track team came out on the short end of a tri-meet to both Marblehead (60-26) and Danvers (46-40) last Saturday at Swampscott, a number of Lady Vikings turned in fine performances.
Isabella Mahoney topped the entire field in the high jump with her leap pf 4′-8″ to take first place against both Danvers and Marblehead.
MaryKate Pote did likewise in the shot-put with her throw of 29′-10″ and Clare Nargi was a double-winner in the 50 high hurdles with her time of 10.0.
Mahoney’s clocking of 8.0 in the 50 yard dash earned her a first place against Danvers and a third against Marblehead.
Soneida Dahlquist grabbed first against Marblehead and second against Danvers in the 600 with a time of 1:49.81.
Fiona MacPhail was a major contributor to the Winthrop cause with a second vs. Marblehead and a third vs. Danvers in the high jump with a leap of 4′-6″ and then came back to take a first vs. Danvers and a third vs. Marblehead in the 300 with a dash of 49.58.
Other point-scorers for the Lady Vikings were: Xhona Kokoneshi with a shot-put toss of 25′-2″ that earned her second place vs. Danvers and a third vs. Marblehead; Nora McCarey with a second place vs. Danvers in the 300 dash in 50.2; Alex Gibbons with a third vs. Danvers in the 50 dash in 8.39; Libby Carney with a third in the mile vs. Danvers with a run of 6:58.8; and Amyra Silva with a second in the two-mile event vs. Danvers in a clocking of 14:59.1.
The contest with Danvers came down to the final event, the 4 x 400 relay, but the Lady Falcons edged the Lady Vikings with a time of 4:46.7 compared to Winthrop’s 5:01 to take the final five points of the meet and the victory.
WHS Boys Track Competes in Tri-Meet
The Winthrop High boys indoor track & field team took on Marblehead and Danvers in a tri-meet this past Saturday. The Vikings came up short vs. Marblehead by a score of 63-23 and to Danvers by a tally of 74-12.
Two Vikings earned first-place finishes in their events. Pat Teixeira defeated his Marblehead counterparts in the shot-put with a toss of 33′-4″ and Bobby Hubert outsprinted his Danvers foes in the 50 dash with a clocking of 6.75. Bobby’s effort also earned him second-place against Marblehead, just 0.03 behind the first-place finisher.
James Silva scored points against both opponents, taking a second vs. Marblehead and a third vs. Danvers in the high jump with a leap of 5′-4″. Pat Haskell likewise scored points against both foes, taking a second vs. Danvers and a third vs. Marblehead in the 300 dash with a clocking of 40.56.
Chris Rodriguez also took a second (vs. Marblehead) and a third (vs. Danvers) in his specialty, the 1000, with a time of 3:03.8.
Other point-scorers for Winthrop were: Julian Osorio with a third in the high jump vs. Marblehead with a leap of 5′-4″; Billy Hubert with a second vs. Marblehead in the shot-put with a throw of 33′-0″; Eric Azbegui with a third place in the 50 hurdles vs. Danvers in 11:38; Steve Perullo with a second vs. Marblehead in the 600 in 1:49.15; Ryan Cash with a third in the mile vs. Danvers in 6:36.4 (teammate Luke Riley was right behind Ryan with his clocking of 6:37.6); and Stephen Hinchion in the two-mile with his time of 14:46.6 that was good for a third vs. Marblehead.