WHS Sports Roundup

Girls Hockey Wins Two More, Now 8-0-1; Hosts Peabody Wednesday

The Winthrop High girls hockey team remained undefeated with a pair of victories this past week, defeating Northeastern Hockey League (NHL) rival Beverly and non-league foe Latin Academy/Fontbonne.

The Lady Vikings will host Peabody next Wednesday in a battle for first place in the NHL in the biggest game of the season. The teams sport identical 7-0-1 league records and engaged in a 2-2 deadlock earlier in the year.

Winthrop this week was ranked second in the state in Division 1 according to the Hockey Night in Boston poll, with Peabody (which has two non-league losses to St. Mary’s of Lynn and Malden Catholic) ranked sixth.

The opening face-off on the ice of the Mike Eruzione Center at Larsen Rink is set for 6:10.

Saturday evening’s battle with Beverly at Endicott College saw the Lady Vikings sprint to a 4-0 lead in the opening period. Julia Holmes provided most of the offensive firepower, netting a natural hat trick.

“This was all about Julia Holmes,” said WHS head coach Anthony Martucci. “She went full beast mode and had a natural hat trick in the first period.”

The host Lady Panthers regrouped after the initial Lady Viking onslaught, but proved unable to make a run in the final 30 minutes. 

Winthrop’s other two goals came off the sticks of eighth grade defenseman Tegan Pereira, who scored her first career goal on a bullet of a slapshot, and freshman Mia Martucci on a shorthanded goal.

Martucci’s lamplighter came on a superb individual effort in which Mia stole the puck off a Beverly player’s stick and placed a wrist shot into the top corner. 

WHS goalie Summer Tallent once again turned in a strong performance, stopping 16 Beverly shots to record her 48th career win.  

Two nights later the Lady Vikings hosted Latin Academy/Fontbonne and skated to a 5-1 triumph.

This time it was Emma Holmes’s turn to grab the spotlight. Emma took a cue from her sister Julia and reached the back of the Latin net for a hat trick, including a goal on which she pounced on a loose puck and ripped it under the bar for a goal.

“Latin was a very good team,” said Martucci. “They worked hard and played tough hockey. It was a battle from start to finish, but in the end we were just too much for them.

“In addition to the impressive performance from Emma Holmes, this one was all about our grind line of Lily Tallent, Sami DiMento, and Hannah Parker,” Martucci added.

“Hannah had two goals, but it was their chemistry that made it possible,” the coach continued. “Lily Tallent had the assist on Hannah’s first goal on which they executed a two-on-one perfectly, and Lily’s shot came right out to Hannah who deposited it into the back of the net.

“On Hannah’s second goal, it was a beautiful pass from Sami DiMento that created a bing-bang play in which Hannah sent the puck right past the Latin Academy goalie,” said Martucci.

“That line has great chemistry and they have always played well together,” Martucci added. “They were a key to us winning two U-10 state championships at the youth level.”

Emma Holmes and Talia Martucci also worked together perfectly to provide the Lady Viking firepower.

“Emma and Talia Have meshed well together this year and it has been great for us offensively,” noted the coach. “Emma had three goals and Talia had the assists on all three of those goals. So those two are working well together.

“We were without the services of Julia Holmes, who is an incredible offensive player,” said Martucci. “So we had to have some players fill in to pick up the slack. Gabby Buonapane and Izzy Cash did a tremendous job in this game. They really worked hard and gave us some quality minutes.”

Tallent was excellent once again in the net, earning her 49th career win with 14 saves. 

“The leadership of our three captains has been immense this season,” said Martucci. “Mia Martucci, Summer Tallent, and Elle English have really helped guide this team.”

Martucci and his crew are scheduled to travel to Janas Memorial Rink in Lowell to play Shawsheen this Saturday morning. Winthrop handily skated past Shawsheen by a score of 10-1 in the season-opener at the beginning of December.

They then will return home on Wednesday to face Peabody in the showdown for first place in the NHL.

Farrell Hits for 21 as WHS Girls Rout Salem

Sophomore Kaylee Farrell struck for 21 points to lead the Winthrop High girls basketball team to a 55-33 victory over Northeastern Conference rival Salem this past Tuesday on the Chris Tsiotos Court at Winthrop High.

The Lady Vikings overcame a slow start in which they found themselves trailing by a 12-2 margin with 57 seconds remaining in the first period. Winthrop’s lone bucket in the opening 7:03 came from Farrell off a nice steal-and-pass from junior Maddie Stiglets.

However, Winthrop closed the gap in a hurry, reeling off seven unanswered points before the period ended. Buckets by Farrell, sophomore Grace Fleuriel on an offensive rebound, Farrell again (off a steal-and-feed from sophomore Reese Brodin), and a free throw by Fleuriel (who was fouled after pulling down an offensive rebound) left matters at 12-9 at the first buzzer.

Fleuriel, who reached double-figures with 12 points, brought the Lady Vikings within one, 12-11, to open the second period. The momentum clearly had swung to Winthrop’s favor and the Lady Vikings took the lead for good midway through the period when Fleuriel took a pass from Stiglets, made the bucket, and was fouled. 

Grace sank her free throw, boosting Winthrop into an 18-16 lead that the Lady Vikings never relinquished.

The teams battled evenly for the remainder of the first half, with Winthrop taking a 26-20 advantage into the locker room.

It is an axiom in basketball that the last minutes of the first half and the opening minutes of the second half often  can be decisive and that proved true in this one, as Winthrop expanded its six-point edge at the intermission with a run of 13 unanswered points to start the second half to open up a 39-20 bulge at exactly the four-minute mark of the third period.

The Lady Vikings combined a pressure, trapping defense with a series of nice passes to girls cutting to the middle to pull away from the Lady Witches. Stiglets (from Fleuriel), Farrell (from Brodin), Fleuriel (on a spinning post move), Farrell (from the corner), Farrell again (with a three-pointer), and Brodin (on a driving layup) accounted for the Winthrop offensive flurry before Salem finally got on the board with a three-pointer and then a free throw

But by then the damage had been done. Two buckets by Stiglets and another by sophomore April Ferguson before the third buzzer made it a 45-24 contest after three periods.

Freshman Lily Conway, who was in the starting lineup, finished the game with a flourish for the Lady Vikings, hitting on three consecutive shots in the closing minutes for the 55-33 finale.

In addition to the 21 points from Farrell and the 12 from Fleuriel, Stiglets hit for eight points, Brodin and Conway scored six apiece, and Ferguson had two.

Also making nice contributions throughout the contest were sophomore Sophia Lindinger, sophomore Hailey Forsyth, senior Emma Forsyth, and senior Julia Marcoccio,  

Lowe and his crew, who now stand at 7-5 on the season, are scheduled to play at Danvers tonight (Thursday), make the long trek to Gloucester tomorrow (Friday), and will travel to Masconomet on Tuesday. They will return home to entertain Marblehead next Friday.

WHS Gymnastics Tops Bp. Fenwick, Now 3-0

The Winthrop High School gymnastics team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 135.8-122.55 triumph over Bishop Fenwick Sunday afternoon at the Winthrop Gymnastics Academy.

Rebecca Lindstedt, a senior exchange student from Sweden, opened the meet for the Vikings on the uneven bars.

“Rebecca had never touched a set of uneven bars in her life before entering the gym in September,” said WHS co-coach Pete Gobiel, but she has done a great job in such a small amount of time.”

Lindstedt stuck her routine to get her teammates pumped up from the outset of the competition

Sara Jurovich, covering for Isabella Rice (who was ill), was next up and scored a 6.4. Sophomore standout Shannon Abbott hit her routine for the third straight meet. Senior captain Megi Zogasi, leading the way after working incredibly hard all week in practice, earned a score of 8.05. 

Junior Alayna Ronan hitting her bar routine with her signature dismount and brought the crowd to their feet. Capt. Brandi DiCicco, just getting back from quarantine, hit her routine for the third time this season, scoring a 7.75. Capt. Mary O’Donnell, Winthrop’s best bar worker, led the way, beating all the other competitors with her mistake-free routine to score an 8.25.

“Mary has been working hard at practice with a new bar routine we hope to showcase in our next competition.” said co-coach Daria Millerick. 

On the Vikings’ next event, the balance beam, first up was freshman Julia Hurley, hitting her routine and scoring a personal best score of 8.2. Sophomore Ellie O’Donnell was up next and kept the ball rolling, hitting her routine for her personal best of 8.8 to take first place on the beam.

“Ellie works hard at practice, never misses a day, and pushes everyone around her to be their best,” said Gobiel. 

Ronan, Zogasi, and DiCicco all finished their bar performances with superb scores of 8.5.

In the next event for Winthrop, the vault,  Brooklyn Banfield led off and hit both of her handspring vaults for a score of 8.1, her season’s best score. Jurovich was next up and scored an 8.2. Ellie O’Donnell stuck both her vaults to earn a score of 8.5. 

Zogasi, throwing her flipping vault for the second time this season, scored a 9.3.

“Megi goes above and beyond at practice, leading by example and always doing everything the coaches want and more,” said Gobiel. “She’s a pleasure to work with.”

All-around Winthrop performer Ronan, doing her twisting vault, scored an 8.6. Lindstedt then performed her flipping vault to post a score of  8.4. Though Mary O’Donnell over-rotated her first vault, taking a few steps and crashing into the wall, that didn’t stop Mary from hitting her second vault and scoring an 8.6.

DiCicco, who had very limited time at practice because of her quarantine, was off slightly on her first vault, taking one step on the landing. After some last-minute advice from coach Gobiel, she performed her second vault to perfection, scoring a personal best score of 9.6.

“We haven’t seen scores like that since Christa Vaccaro, the Viking record-holder in virtually every event, competed here years ago,” noted Gobiel.

Heading into their last event, the floor exercise, the Vikings had a lock on the meet and were trying to hit their routines to achieve their highest team score. The average of their four highest team scores are used to make the tournament. 

First up, filling in for Isabella Rice, Shannon Abbott performed her first floor routine of the season and hit it perfectly, scoring a 7.35. Gabby Currier was up next and did a great job, scoring the same 7.35.

Ellie O’Donnell got the crowd clapping to her routine, scoring a 7.85. The all star from Sweden, Lindstedt, hit her routine with an 8.4. 

“I’ve never seen her routine performed like that before. Rebecca was clearly in the zone,” said Millerick. 

Ronan then scored an 8.55. “I can’t wait until Alayna puts in some of the new skills she’s been working hard on in practice,” said Gobiel.

Last up in the meet was senior captain DiCicco, who hit her routine to take first place with an 8.7. “Brandi has been working on some new skills to put in for the last few meets of her senior season,” added Gobiel.

The Vikings have a busy weekend on tap. They will host Essex Tech Saturday afternoon at the Winthrop Gymnastics Academy at 3:00 and then trek to Danvers on Sunday morning for a 10:00 match with the Falcons.

WHS Boys Hockey Splits Two Contests

The Winthrop High boys hockey team split its two contests this past week.

Last Saturday evening the Vikings trekked to the Essex Sports Center in Middleton to take on Masconomet, the first-place team in the Northeastern Conference with a 5-0 conference record.

Winthrop, which entered the contest with two losses in the NEC, had hoped to move within striking range of Masco in the quest for the NEC title. The Vikings put up a fierce battle, but proved unable to overcome a strong Chieftain defense and came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision.

The teams battled to a 0-0 standoff after one period in which WHS net minder Anthony Indrisano made a number of outstanding saves (as Anthony did throughout the game) and Viking sophomore Petey Silverman rang the post on a breakaway.

However, Masco took control in the middle stanza, scoring three goals, two of which were of the short-handed variety, to move out to a 3-0 advantage.

Viking freshman Phil Boncore, assisted by Hunter Fife, lit the lamp at the buzzer, but the Vikings were unable to carry the momentum into what would prove to be a scoreless final period.

Winthrop bounced back two days later to claim a 4-2 victory over Cambridge in a non-league encounter at Larsen Rink on Monday evening.

After a scoreless first period, goals by senior captain Ari Hain (assisted by Jake Hayes and Silverman) and captain JD Parker (unassisted) moved the Vikings out to a 2-0 lead in the middle stanza.

Silverman (assisted by captains Joey Hayes and Hain) reached the back of the Cambridge net to start the third period, but Cambridge refused to quit and scored two goals to make it a tight 3-2 affair heading into the closing minutes.

The Cantabs pulled their goalie in the final minute, but Hain put the game on ice for Winthrop with an empty-net goal for the 4-2 finale.

Coach Dale Dunbar and his crew, who now stand at 3-3 in the NEC and 5-4 overall, presently are ranked fourth in Division 4 in the MIAA’s power rankings that will determine the teams that qualify for the post-season state tournament.

Winthrop, which will be busy with four games in the coming eight days, was scheduled to play at non-league foe Somerville last night (Wednesday) and will host NEC rival Beverly at Larsen at 1:30 on Saturday. They will entertain Bishop Fenwick Monday evening at 5:30 and trek to Danvers next Wednesday.

Youth Night is Friday for WHS Boys Basketball

The Winthrop High boys basketball team will hold its annual Youth Night tomorrow (Friday) evening when the Vikings host Gloucester at the WHS gym. The opening tip is set for 7:00.

The Vikings will be seeking to get back on the winning track after taking on two of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference this past week.

The Vikings came up on the short end of a 61-42 decision at Peabody last Friday. 

 â€œI thought Peabody was one of the better games we played this year,” said WHS head coach Mike Triant. “We played with great poise and tenacity. We started out shooting the ball very poorly as a team and trailed 12-2 in the first quarter. We  continued that slump into the second and could never really dig out of it.  We fought them until the end, but ended up taking the loss.”

This past Tuesday’s contest at Salem was a tale of two halves.  Winthrop fought hard in the first half and trailed 37-22 at the intermission.

“Unfortunately we ran out of steam and lost 80-41,” noted Triant. “Both Peabody and Salem shot the ball very well against us.”

Triant and crew are scheduled to host Danvers this evening (Thursday) and entertain Gloucester tonight (Friday). All three of the Viking boys hoop teams will be in action, with the freshmen playing at 4:00, the junior varsity at 5:30, and the varsity contests at 7:00.

The Vikings then will host Masconomet next Tuesday.

  Theyre all big this time of year in that all games impact our power rating and our seeding toward the D4 state wide tournament.