WHS sports roundup

WHS volleyball team wins season-opener

The Winthrop High volleyball team won its opening game of the season with a 3-0 shutout victory, 25-6, 25-14, and 25-13, over Excel Academy last week.

“It was a great way to start off the season and get the program excited for what is to come,” said WHS head coach Lauren Kelly. “Our team played well and we succeeded in winning all three sets.”

Among the highlights for the Lady Vikings were the performances of senior Gabby Golden, who had a serving streak of eight points in the first set, and senior Madalyn Deeran, who recorded three kills.

Winthrop then dropped a 3-0 decision to Greater Boston League powerhouse Revere last Friday, 25-19, 25-14, and 25-13.

Individual highlights for the Lady Vikings came from seniors Sara DeGennaro and McKenzie Magardo, both of whom had serving streaks with perfect accuracy. Senior Lara Ferrari had a kill which resulted in a point.

“This was a tough loss, especially coming off our win against Excel,” said Kelly. “We are hoping to bounce back from this in our upcoming games this week.”

Kelly and her crew have a busy week ahead. They were set to meet Swampscot this past Tuesday and will host Marblehead today (Thursday) and Greater Lawrence tomorrow (Friday).

They will travel to Northeast Regional on Monday and to Salem next Wednesday.

WHS girls soccer seeks first victory

The Winthrop High girls soccer team was seeking its first win of the season when the Lady Vikings hosted Excel Academy yesterday (Wednesday).

Winthrop came out on the short end of its season-opener with Saugus last week by a score of 7-0 and then fell to Beverly, 6-1.

“We took a hard hit in the season home opener to Saugus,” said WHS head coach Tracey Martucci. “They are a very good team this year. We definitely found out the things we needed to work on in that game. We came out a little flat and couldn’t get any momentum going.

“Then in Beverly we lost 6-1, but we had a much better game overall.” said the coach. “Our forward line of Maddie Stiglets, Mia Norris, and Emma Holmes did a great job of putting pressure on their backfield. Sweeper Daniela Gomez also had a great game for us.

“Sophomore Amelia Spencer, who has never played soccer before, has jumped into the role as goalie for us this year and is working super hard and giving us her all in every game,” Martucci added. “Hopefully we can progress from here and continue to work on the technical things we need to work on to push forward this season.”

Reese Brodin reached the back of the Beverly net for Winthrop’s first goal of the season.

Martucci and her crew will host Gloucester on Monday and trek to Danvers next Wednesday.

Boys soccer hosts St. Mary’s of Lynn today

The Winthrop High boys soccer team will host St. Mary’s of Lynn this afternoon (Thursday) on the turf at Miller Field.

The Vikings dropped a 2-0 decision to Swampscott in their home opener this past Friday.

“We played very well and had a couple of scoring chances,” said WHS head coach Phil Ronan, “but we made a couple of mistakes that proved to be the difference in the game.”

Earlier in the week the Vikings opened their season with a 4-0 loss to Saugus.

“We came out very lethargic and went down 3-0 at the half,” said Ronan. “I bear the full responsibility for the slow start as head coach. We played much better in the second half. I told the boys that it’s in the past and let’s get ready for our next opponents.”

This past Monday the Vikings traveled to Beverly and came up on the short end of a 5-0 outcome.

“Simply put, Beverly was stronger, faster, and had excellent technical skill which we couldn’t match,” said Ronan, whose squad features many first-year and younger players. “We’ll get ready for St. Mary’s on Thursday.”

The Vikings next will make the long trek to Gloucester on Monday and return home to entertain Danvers next Wednesday.