WHS Girls Hockey Opens Season Saturday
The Winthrop High girls hockey team will open its 2023 season this Saturday when coach Anthony Martucci and his Lady Vikings trek to Janas Rink in Lowell to take on Shawsheen Tech/Bedford at 1:00.
“This should be another exciting season of Lady Vikings’ hockey,” said the always-enthusiastic Martucci. “We are all pumped up once again and this year’s team has some championship qualities.”
Winthrop will be led by a quartet of senior captains, Mia Norris and the Holmes triplets, Emma, Abby, and Julia.
“I think right now the team is progressing well under the leadership of our four captains,” said Martucci. “They are leading by example and really pushing the team to be elite every single time they step on the ice. All four are excellent players and will be relied upon heavily this season.”
The Lady Vikings have engaged thus far in two pre-season scrimmages and have played impressively in both.
“Our first scrimmage was last Saturday night in Weymouth,” said Martucci. “We played very well for it being our first real game together as a group. The final score for the game was 2-1, although we held a distinct advantage in shots.”
Norris and freshman Reese Ferrara lit the lamp for Winthjrop.
“I thought our defense played very well in this game,” said Martucci. “They limited any real scoring chances for Weymouth and did a great job getting pucks to the net in the offensive zone.
“Up front we looked very fast and hard to slow down,” Martucci continued. “We have a bunch of players who can really go and it showed in this game. The goaltending duties belonged to freshman Riley Towse, who did a fantastic job in her first varsity start.”
This past Tuesday Winthrop hosted Boston Latin at Larsen Rink and reached the back of the Latin net for six goals.
“Once again we had a major shots-on-goal advantage,” said Martucci, “but in this game we were able to deposit more pucks into the back of the net, six goals in total, by four different Vikings.”
Emma Holmes and Sami Dimento scored two goals apiece, with Avalina Coffey and Norris adding solo tallies.
“I thought all three lines that we had available — we were missing a bunch of skaters due to the flu — played incredibly well,” said Martucci. “We had a lot of ‘jump’ in this game and it proved overwhelming.
“Some really impressive stuff came from forwards Izzy Cash, Talia Martucci, Reese Ferrara, Gabby Buonapane, Hannah Parker, Tori Bates, and Stella Pelletier,” said the coach. “On defense, we got some excellent play from Avalina Coffey, captain Abby Holmes, Amelia Spencer, Mia Currier, and Izi Hain.
“Once again holding down the fort in between the pipes was Riley Towse, who finished with a 10-save shutout,” added Martucci. “Back up goalie Hannah Barrett was a star on the defensive door duty.”
The Lady Vikings will play an 18-game schedule in which they will face their eight opponents from the Northeast Hockey League — Shawsheen, Marblehead, Beverly, Masconomet, Peabody, Medford, Newburyport, and Glocuester — twice each. They will take on non-league rivals Acton-Boxboro and Boston Latin Academy once each.
WHS Boys Basketball Opens This Weekend
The Winthrop High boys basketball team will open its 2023 season when the Vikings compete in the Salem Academy Charter School tournament this weekend in Salem.
Winthrop will take on Salem Academy on Friday evening and then face either Bishop Fenwick or Danvers on Saturday.
“We’re flying over here,” said WHS head coach Mike Triant, whose squad has been engaged in a busy pre-season with scrimmages against Georgetown this past Saturday, Revere on Sunday, and East Boston on Tuesday. “All were competitive games for us.”
The 2023 edition of the Vikings will be led by senior captain Zach Bogusz.
“Zach and George Galuris are pretty much the only returning contributors from last year,” noted Triant. “Ryan Harris, Raesean Bebri, Andrew Faretra, Eddie Ramadani, and Eljo Hysa are also returning.
“Vasili Tsiotos, Dimitri Koukouflakis, and Alex Daignault have all returned to WHS and will help us out. Jeremi Matias Liriano transferred from Charlestown High,” added Triant. “David Gonzalez will round out the active roster. James Faretra and Julian Diaz will also be with the team and will hopefully be active around the halfway point of the year.
“We are hoping we have an exciting style of play, to build off of last year’s tourney berth, and continue to get ourselves over that .500 win percentage,” the coach added.
The Vikings will have a full, 20-game schedule. They will face their Northeastern Conference divisional rivals Danvers, Gloucester, Saugus, and Swampscott twice each and NEC non-division foes Peabody, Beverly, Salem, Masconomet, and Marblehead once apiece.
Winthrop will host a Christmas holiday tournament, opening up against Saugus and then facing either East Boston or Revere. Other non-conference foes include Bishop Fenwick and Northeast Regional twice each.
New Coach, New Season for WHS Girls Basketball; Opener Set for Saturday
The Winthrop High girls basketball team, under the direction of new head coach Mike DeGregorio, will open its 2023 season against non-league opponent Andover this Saturday at noon at the WHS gym.
The Lady Vikings then will travel to Bridgewater-Raynham this coming Tuesday.
Winthrop will engage in a 22-game schedule, featuring two contests each against Northeastern Conference divisional rivals Saugus, Gloucester, Danvers, and Swampscott and single contests with NEC non-divisional foes Salem, Peabody, Beverly, Marblehead, and Masconomet.
Non-league opponents, in addition to Andover and Bridgewater-Raynham, will be Newburyport (twice), Newton North, Bishop Fenwick, Revere, St. Mary’s of Lynn, and Woburn.
WHS Boys Hockey Opens Season Saturday
Coach Dale Dunbar and the Winthrop High boys hockey team will open their season this Saturday evening (December 10) at the McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody against Bishop Fenwick.
The opening face-off is set for 6:00.
The Vikings’ 20-game schedule will include two contests each with Northeastern Conference rivals Danvers, Marblehead, Gloucester, Masconomet, and Beverly, with single games vs. NEC non-divisional foes Peabody and Swampscott.
Non-league opponents will include Fenwick, Lynnfield, Medford (twice), Lexington, Stoneham, and Dedham.