WHS golfers defeat Danvers; stand at 6-5
The Winthrop High golf team stands at 6-5 overall as coach Jack Wallace’s Vikings embark on the second half of their season with the goal of qualifying for the post-season state tourney.
In a recent match at Rockport, a 164-150 loss, junior Ryan Murphy was the medalist (top scorer for the match) with 38 points and shooting a one-under round of 34.
“Ryan loves this course and always plays well here,” said Wallace. “Do not be surprised if Ryan makes a real run this year at the D-3 North sectionals.
“The team overall struggled with taking advantage of the short course and this was probably the worst as a team we played all year,” Wallace said. “This definitely was a good experience though for the state tournament in preparation and taking advantage of what the golf course gives you. We were right in the match and with a couple of more pars ,we would have won easily.”
A 38-34 win over Danvers at the Ferncroft Country Club marked the Vikings’ first victory over the Falcons since 2014 (when Wallace was a freshman). “This was an impressive win and meant a lot to me as a coach. I am extremely proud,” Wallace noted
The highlights for Winthrop were provided by Murphy, who won his match by shooting a 39 and crushing his Danvers opponent by six points. Senior captain Tomas Babine also won by three and shot a medalist round of 38 (two-over par). Junior Nikita Rossi battled hard and lost his first match of the season, 4-5.
Junior Jojo Pumphret secured the victory, winning his match, 5-4. “Jojo lost the first hole, but battled and stayed in his match,” noted Wallace.
Freshman Max Dassau shot a 40 (five-over) and won his match, 5-4. “This was a great win for Max on a tough course,” said Wallace.
JuniorPaulie Ferrara secured 2.5 points in a tough match dealing with Danvers depth. Junior Tony Bordornaro secured four points at the #6 spot. Senior Louk Belghiti battled his way to a 5-4 victory at the #2 spot. “Louk has bounced around and made the best of each match,” said Wallace.
In a runaway 55.5-16.5 win over Medford at the Winthrop Golf Club, every Viking won his match and shot below 43.
“This shows the dominance we can have at our home course,” Wallace noted. Babine and Dassau handily won their matches, 8.5-0.5. Rossi shot a 36 (one-over) tied Murphy for medalist honors. Both won their matches as well.
“The bottom of our lineup, juniors Jojo Pumphret and Paulie Ferrara, have been improving since our points matches and have stayed composed very well,” said Wallace. “Jojo is having a great year at the eight spot. He is 5-2-2 in his nine matches played.”
The Vikings then engaged in a tri-match with Swampscott and Gloucester.
“This was the best as a team we have played overall in staying composed and controlling our emotions and staying with our game plans,” said Wallace, whose team edged Swampscott, 37-35, and lost by the slimmest of margins to Gloucester, 36.5-35.5.
Rossi at the #3 spot won both his matches by scores of 5-4. “This was a huge double win for us,” said Wallace.
Murphy split his matches, beating his Gloucester opponent and losing to Swampscott, shooting a one-over round of 36. Babine tied both of his counterparts, 4.5-4.5, maintaining his undefeated status.
Belghiti won his Swampscott match and tied his Gloucester foe as the three opponents engaged in a back-and-forth contest and all of the matches were close.
Ferrara won one match and tied another, shooting a 41. Bordornaro also went 1-0-1 on the day. “It was not easy to deal with two other golfers and I am proud of how we fought hard,” Wallace said.
Pumphret beat his Swampscott opponent, securing the match. Jojo also chipped in off the green to tie his Gloucester match at the end. Unfortunately, Jojo’s superb effort after being three points down with three holes to play, and winning all three holes to tie his Gloucester opponent, left the Vikings just short of victory vs. the Fishermen.
“It’s very tough losing by one because every golfer can think back to a putt here or a shot there that would’ve swung the match in either direction,” noted Wallace.
“This was not easy to deal with two other golfers and I am proud of how we fought hard. If we continue to play like we did in this match, then I have no doubts when the State Tournament comes we will be ready to compete.”
The Vikings concluded their busy stretch with a runaway 56-16 win over Peabody last Thursday at the WGC. “It was a good conference win taking care of business at home. No golfer lost a match,” said Walace.
Rossi improved his record to 6-1-1, winning 5.5-3.5. Belghiti and Babine continued their hot play, both winning by six points or more. “Louk has fought back from his beginning struggles and is playing to his form now, while Tomas is the only golfer still undefeated in match play at 6-0-3,” Wallace noted.
The combo of Bordonaro and Dassau continued their consistent play with both winning their matches. “Tony has stepped up at the 6-spot and been a great player so far,” said Wallace. “Paulie Ferrara won his match by five points and has been striking the ball well.”
“This makes us 5-2 in conference play and sets us up for a key match with Gloucester at Bass Rocks next week for the NEC Small title,” said Wallace.
The Vikings, whose magic number to reach the state tourney is four, were scheduled to host NEC opponents Saugus this past Monday and Salem this past Tuesday before trekking back to Ferncroft to meet Masconomet today (Thursday).
They will return home to the WGC to entertain non-league foe Lynn Classical next Monday.
Boys soccer ties Gloucester
The Winthrop High boys soccer team dueled Gloucester to a 0-0 deadlock this past Monday at Miller Field.
“Gloucester hasn’t won a game and we played as though we had won the game before the kickoff, ” said WHS head coach Phil Ronan. “We played selfish, hero ball and didn’t stick to the game plan. That falls on me.”
In last week’s match with Danvers, the Vikings reached the back of the Falcon net for five goals (two each by Kerim and Sammy Nastassi and one by Joey Bebri), but a poor defensive effort resulted in an 8-5 loss.
“Quite frankly, we are slumping and playing very inconsistently,” said Ronan. “Danvers was an absolute disaster. It was one of the worst defensive games I have
ever witnessed or coached. Our back line ball watched, couldn’t cover , kick, or clear the zone.”
Ronan and his crew, who now stand at 2-3-3pon the season, were scheduled to take on a Salem team Wednesday (yesterday). “Salem is a very hungry team who will be looking to avenge an early season loss to us,” noted Ronan.
The Vikings will host Peabody tomorrow (Friday) afternoon and Saugus on Monday afternoon before trekking to Stoneham next Friday.
WHS cross-country continues to improve
The Winthrop High boys and girls cross country teams hosted Beverly last Wednesday on their home course at Deer Island.
For the boys, freshman Owen Harty was the top Viking, coming across the line in fifth place in a clocking of 20:15. He was followed by senior captain Liam Natareno (8th place in 20:43), senior Liam Kenney (9th in 20:46), freshman Matteo Agri (12th in 21:11),, sophomore Sean Mgloin (15th in 22:42), junior Even Tallent (24th in 27:58), freshman Joseph Spinale (28th in 31:17), and freshman Ethan Harty (30th in 33:12).
On the girls side, senior captain Bailey Ferguson came across the line in 22nd place in 26:19.
“The course was dry and ran well,” said WHS head coach Eric Ferguson. “It is one of the more challenging courses in the NEC. It was encouraging to see our times close to, if not better than, the previous two races.”
Ferguson and his crew were scheduled to travel to Salem yesterday (Wednesday) and will host Danvers next Tuesday.
WHS girls soccer hits the road
The Winthrop High girls soccer team will be on the road in the coming week. The Lady Vikings, who broke into the win column with a 4-0 triumph over Excel Academy last week, are scheduled to trek to Peabody tomorrow (Friday), to Saugus on Monday, and to Lynn Tech next Wednesday.
In the win over Excel, junior Angela Coscia netted the hat trick for the Lady Vikings. Freshman Guilainna Grimaldi scored on a penalty kick after being taken down inside the box.
“It took us a while to score,” said WHS head coach Tracey Martucci. “We definitely had a lot of opportunities and finally we found our rhythm.”
Coscia scored Winthrop’s first goal of the season in a contest with Boston Collegiate prior to the Excel match. The match with Collegiate was a close battle, with Collegiate prevailing by a score of 2-1.
“Our senior goalkeeper, Marissa MacMullen, has been great for us in net,” noted Martucci. “She’s been seeing lots of shots and making some unbelievable saves. “I’m very proud of this team and how they continue to move past each game and keep working hard,” Martucci added.
Middle school cross country teams do well
The Winthrop Middle School boys and girls cross country teams raced well against a strong Swampscott team, but came up short in their meet last Thursday.
The top runners for the boys were Tomas Verdaguer, Brendan Murphy, Franco Ferrara, Leon Martin, and Yeshua Quijada.
On the girls’ side, the top Junior Lady Viking finishers were Teresa Beuoy, Cate Harty, Amelia Castro, Stella Braga, and Aveen Toomey.
WHS volleyball hosts Stoneham
The Winthrop High volleyball team will host non-league opponent Stoneham this Saturday morning at the WHS gym. The opening serve is set for 11:00.
“We need to continue making sure we stay the course and work through tough moments,” said WHS head coach Jeremy Wein. “We’ve had some improvements with serve/receive, and that’s a huge plus, but we have a ways to go. Thankfully, we have the leadership group that we do and everyone continues to fight.” The Lady Vikings will entertain NEC foes Swampscott and Beverly next Tuesday and Thursday.