WHS boys soccer to host BISHOP Connolly in tourney on SaturdaY
The Winthrop High boys soccer team will host Bishop Connolly this Saturday at 1:30 at Miller Field in the MIAA Division 4 state soccer tournament.
Under the new state tourney format, the old and familiar state sectional format, which formerly was divided into the North, South, Central, and West regions of the state, has been abolished.
Rather, all of the state’s schools compete in their respective divisions, which are based on school-size and other factors (for boys’ soccer, there are five state-wide divisions), across the state.
There are 39 teams that will compete in the Division 4 tourney, of which 32 qualified automatically based upon the MIAA’s power ranking system, a calculation based on strength of schedule and margin of victory, regardless of record (six of the top 32 schools have losing records). The other seven teams qualified for the tourney because they had better-than .500 records, even though they did not make the top-32 in the power-ranking system.
Winthrop, which finished with a record of 10-6-2, is the 14th-seeded team in D-4 and Bishop Connolly (8-3-1) is seeded 19th.
The victor will advance to meet the winner of the contest between Rockland, the #3 seed in D-4, and the winner of the Tyngsborough (#30) vs. Advanced Math (#35) contest, which also is set for Saturday afternoon.
Vikings win final two regular-season games
The Winthrop High boys soccer team concluded its regular season on a high note with victories over Northeastern Conference rivals Salem and Swampscott.
Last Wednesday, the Vikings defeated Salem, 2-1, in a contest that had been postponed because of last Tuesday’s storm.
Winthrop scored the first goal off a loose ball from a corner kick. JD Parker delivered the shot that reached the back of the Witches’ net amidst the scramble in the Salem box. It was JD’s second goal of the season.
Junior Damian Vidal provided the game-winner, his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Tomasso Tronca.
The following evening, Coach Kyle Gagin’s squad celebrated their Senior Night in appropriate fashion with a 1-0 conquest of visiting Swampscott.
After the teams battled to a nil-nil standoff at the intermission, Vidal scored the game-winner, assisted by Ryan Kfoury, in the second half.
WHS goalkeeper Mateo Martinez had a great game in net with a number of big saves to earn his fifth clean sheet of the season.
The Northeastern Conference’s coaches voted for all-stars Monday night. Viking Gustav Hemmingsen, a visiting student from Denmark who was Winthrop’s leading scorer with 16 goals and five assists, was voted to the All-Conference team.
Teammates Juan Guauque and Martinez were named NEC All Stars.
Girls soccer edges Latin Academy, 1-0
The Winthrop High girls soccer team defeated Latin Academy, 1-0, last week.
Senior captain Mia Martucci struck the back of the Latin net for the game-winning goal after making a nice run up the sideline and delivering a shot to the top corner that beat the Latin keeper.
“We definitely had a tough game,†said WHS head coach Tracey Martucci. “Our energy was low and we just couldn’t find our groove until about the 37-minute mark when Mia scored the game-winning goal.â€
A few days earlier, a shorthanded Winthrop squad dropped a 2-1 decision to Somerville.
Emma Holmes scored the Winthrop goal.
“Unfortunately, we had to play the game without our starting goalkeeper,†said Martucci. “In addition, our starting sweeper (Julia Marcoccio) is out for the season and we were missing two starting defenders.
“But I have to give praise to senior Miya Grein for stepping up and jumping into the net for us and playing great,†Martucci continued. “She had to make a few key saves to keep the game tight.
“We had a few chances, but couldn’t capitalize to take the lead,†Martucci added.