Sports 05-10-2018

WHS sports roundup

WHS boys lacrosse earns big victories

The Winthrop High boys lacrosse team turned in a pair of impressive victories this past week to improve to 8-5 on the season.

The first conquest was a 6-5 triumph over Medford, a team that is in first place in the South Division of the Northeastern Conference. Coach Brian Donnelly’s crew then took the measure of Pope John XXIII, 6-1, in a non-league contest.

“Medford will most likely win our league, so it was a huge win,” said Donnelly. “We played awesome defense in the second half and we got an unbelievable full game by goalie Andrew DiMento.

“The win over a very athletic Pope John opponent was a great team victory,” Donnelly added.

The Vikings came up short in overtime at Revere this past Monday evening.

“The Revere game was a hard-fought battle,” said Donnelly. “We played excellent lacrosse, but it didn’t go our way this time.”

After a slow start, the Vikings built some momentum two weeks ago that pushed their record over the .500 mark with decisive victories over Malden, Salem, Everett, and Lynn setting the stage for the big wins over Medford and Pope John.

“Our team is really starting to come together with great upperclassmen leadership and excellent freshmen and sophomore additions,” said Donnelly. “The team is really starting to jive together and the offense has taken off with some unbelievable goal and assist production from juniors Pat Sennott, Luke Evangelista, and Brian Chalmers, sophomore Joe Mahoney, and break-out freshman starter Matt Hurley.

“Our defense is also playing amazingly, averaging only five goals-against per game, due in part to the brother duo of the Silvas, senior captain Christian Lyons, and veteran goaltender Drew DiMento,” Donnelly added.

With a state tourney berth in their sights, the Vikings will host a very physical Saugus team this afternoon (Thursday). They will entertain Pope John on the Miller Field turf tomorrow (Friday) and travel to Malden on Monday. They will return home to face Salem next Thursday.

 

WHS girls lacrosse wins

six in a row

The Winthrop High girls lacrosse team is on a roll, sporting a six-game winning streak that has boosted the Lady Vikings to a sterling 9-3 record on the season.

Winthrop defeated Northeastern Conference rivals Malden and Saugus last week and non-league foe Hull this past Monday.

The Hull game, which Winthrop won in a hard-fought battle, 12-10, had some great action highlighted by solid goalie play on both sides.

“Gemma DiMento started in net for us and made some huge saves that really changed the momentum of the game,” said WHS coach Ben Cimmino. “The offense continues to generate opportunities for us and helped etch out the 12-10 win.”

Gabby Ford, who has secured a starting role on attack, received the Offensive Player of the Game Award. DiMento took home the Berserker Award for some outstanding saves throughout the game.

Cimmino and his crew were set to host archival Revere yesterday (Wednesday)  with a chance to clinch the first-ever MIAA playoff berth for the WHS girls’ program, as well as a piece of first place in the NEC South.

The Lady Vikings travel to Salem tomorrow (Friday) and then will make the long trek to Hull on Tuesday and another long ride to Gloucester next Thursday.

 

Boys tennis team

defeats Salem, 4-1

 

The Winthrop High boys tennis team kept alive its hopes of qualifying for a berth in the post-season state tournament with a 4-1 victory at Salem this past Tuesday.

Kevin Dorr, the top Viking player, won his match in straight sets over his rival at first singles, 6-2, 6-4. Chris Finn, playing at third singles, whitewashed his Salem foe, 6-0, 6-0.

The Winthrop doubles pairings of Jake Langone & Sam Yarrow at first doubles won their match, 6-4, 6-1, and Rilind Byteyaj & Augie Cherico at second doubles also triumphed in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.

Henry Brooks, playing at second singles, battled well in a 4-6, 4-6 loss.

In a 1-4 loss to Swampscott on Monday, Finn was the lone Viking to prevail, winning at third singles, 6-1, 6-0. The second doubles duo of Byteyaj & Cherico fought hard in a closely-contested match, 6-7 (4-7), 5-7.

The Winthrop junior varsity team performed well in their contests with the Swamspcott JV players. The combo of Alessia Naio & Steve Holgersen won their set, 7-5, as did the duos of Michael Brooks & Nick Deeb, 6-3, and Michael & Jared Vecchio, 6-4.

The pairing of Andy Angulo & Joe Deeb dropped a well-played set, 4-6.

Coach Marie Finn and her squad now stand at 3-5 on the season and must win four of their final six matches in the coming week in order to achieve a .500 record that will earn them a berth in the post-season state tournament.

The Vikings embark on that quest starting today (Thursday) at Danvers/Peabody and will host Malden tomorrow (Friday). They entertain Gloucester on Monday, travel to Revere on Tuesday, trek to Malden on Wednesday, and then conclude their season at home with Lynn Classical next Thursday.

 

WHS baseball team

deadlocks with Revere

 

In a tough week for the Winthrop High baseball team (in which the Vikings dropped contests to Swampscott and Northeast Regional), a bright light for the WHS diamondmen was an 8-8 duel with Revere last Thursday that was halted after 11 innings and that was scheduled to be completed this past Tuesday.

Winthrop came back on no less than four occasions to force the game into extra innings and had numerous chances to win.

Sid Albert started and pitched four-plus innings, giving up six runs, of which only two were earned. Dan Gillis came on to throw seven frames in which he allowed only two runs.

Ryan Buccini paced the Viking offense with three singles and three runs scored.  Bobby Hubert, “who always seems to be in the middle of everything,” noted WHS head coach Frank DeMarco, reached base four times with a triple and a single. Bobby also scored a run and laid down a sacrifice bunt.

“Our hitting continues to be a problem,” said DeMarco. “We allow far too many chances to be wasted along with spotty defense.  However, the players have continued to work hard and we are still hopeful that the hard work will pay off as we head into our games with the Division 4 schools on our schedule that will determine whether we make the state tournament.  We’ll see how that plays out in the next week or two.”

DeMarco and his crew host Essex Tech today (Thursday), make the long trek to Gloucester on Monday, and host Medford on Wednesday.

 

Griffiths wins in

Marblehead match

 

Although the Winthrop High girls tennis team came out on the short end of recent contests with Swampscott and Marblehead, two of the perennial powerhouses of the Northeastern Conference, a highlight of the Marblehead match was a victory by Kirsten Griffiths over her Lady Magician counterpart in the No. 3 singles slot.

“Anytime you can get a point off Marblehead, that’s a good day,” said WHS head coach Mike Nickerson.

The Lady Vikings were set to take on Peabody today (Thursday) and travel to Malden tomorrow (Friday). Next week they will make the long ride to Gloucester on Monday, entertain Revere on Tuesday, host Medford on Wednesday, and play at Lynn Classical next Thursday in the season finale.

 

WHS softball team

edges Pope John

 

The Winthrop High softball team turned in a fine all-around performance to earn a 4-2 victory over Pope John XXIII in 10 innings last week.

Stephanie Strangie delivered the game-winning RBI base hit that brought in teammate Bella Perrotta, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Strangie then scored an insurance run thanks to a base hit by Brooke Costin.

Sofia Vitale was the pitching star for the Lady Vikings, tossing scoreless softball and yielding only four hits in the seven innings she worked after coming on in relief of Strangie with the Lady Vikings trailing 2-0.

Jess Martin brought the contest back to level with a two-run homer in the fifth, from where the teams remained deadlocked until Winthrop broke through in the 10th.

In a 3-0 loss to Marblehead a day earlier, Strangie and Vitale shared pitching duties once again, but a lack of run support proved fatal. Stephanie spun four innings of one-hit, one earned-run softball, while Sofia yielded only one run and one hit in her three innings of work.

This past Saturday, the Lady Vikings engaged in a doubleheader with Gloucester at the Bentley University field and came out on the short end of both contests. In an 8-4 loss to Swampscott this past Monday, the contest was highlighted for Winthrop by the first varsity base hit by Lady Viking Katie Gagnon.

Coach Dave Guffey and his crew, who now stand at 3-7 at the halfway mark of the season, were set to play at undefeated Peabody yesterday (Wednesday) and to host Everett today (Thursday). They will entertain Malden Saturday at 2:00 and travel to Medford on Wednesday of next week.

 

WHS sailing team

stands at 2-2

 

The Winthrop High sailing team earned its second victory of the season (the first having come at the expense of Swampscott two weeks ago) with a 4-0 triumph over the Landmark School in a regatta held at the Cottage Park Y.C. last week.

The results for the Vikings in skipper-crew pairs were:  Ella McCarey and John Cataldo taking 3rd, 1st, 4th, & 1st place in the four races; Elizabeth Collins and Andreas Simon taking 2nd, 5th, 2nd, & 3rd; and Antea Schlichting and RJ St. Jean taking 1st, 3rd, 3rd, & 2nd.

This past Monday the Vikings scrimmaged BC High informally (they are not in Winthrop’s division). “We learned a lot of competitive tactics from them,” said WHS head coach Catherine Domina. “Though we lost, the team really learned from sailing against that team. “

The Vikings were set to close out their regular season with regattas yesterday (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Friday). They will take part in the championship races that will be held at CBI on the Charles River May 21-22.

“The kids have made great strides this season, especially refining their ability to work as a team,” noted Domina.

 

WHS tracksters compete

in NEC Frosh/Soph Meet

 

The freshmen and sophomore members of the Winthrop High boys and girls track & field teams competed in the annual Freshmen & Sophomore Meet of the Northeastern Conference that was held this past Saturday at Harry Della Russo Stadium in Revere.

Claire Nargi was the top point-scorer on the day for the Viking contingent, taking second place in the 110 hurdles in a time of 17.5 and fifth place in the long jump with a leap of 14’-10”.

Beatriz Holzman also scored in two events for Winthrop, taking second place in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:14.2 and eighth place in the long jump with a leap of 14’-0”.

Lily Pulsifer took home a third place ribbon in the high jump, clearing the bar at a height of 4’-6”. Mary Kate Pote won a fourth place medal in the shot put with a throw of 27’-11.75”. Alex Gibbons scored a point for the Lady Vikings with her eighth place effort in the 110 hurdles in a clocking of 19.3.

Fiona MacPhail finished just out of the money in the triple jump with a ninth place finish.

The Lady Viking 4 x 100 relay quartet of Nargi, MacPhail, Pulsifer, and Gibbons came across in sixth place to earn ribbons and three points for the Winthrop column on the scoresheet.

The Winthrop girls turned in a fine showing, accumulating 36 points on the day to finish eighth among the 16 NEC schools that took part in the meet.

On the boys’ side, Patrick Haskell finished in third place in the 400 dash with a time of 56.9 seconds. Patrick Teixeira also earned a ribbon for his eighth place effort in the shot put with a throw of 31’-9”.

FROM THE PRESSBOX

Celtics vs Cavaliers

By: Jim Lederman

The Boston Celtics quest for a (4-0) sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers, ended in a (103-93) loss on Monday night in Philly. ‘No Brooms’ was the headline.

Game five was played last night (Wednesday) in the TD Garden. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Toronto (128-95) in Toronto, to ‘sweep’ the Raptors. The victory for Cleveland marked the third year in a row for the ‘Cav’s’ over Toronto.

Will the Celtics and Cavaliers meet in the Eastern Conference finals? The ‘King’ and his court, will challenge an ‘undermanned’ Boston Celtics team. The ‘Green’ minus three players (Irving, Hayward and Theis) lost another key player on Monday night. Backup point guard Shane Larkin, injured his shoulder and his status for the next round of the playoffs is uncertain.

The Celtics will have ‘home court’ advantage in the finals of the Eastern Conference. The Celtics finished in second place in the ‘East’ with 55 wins. Coach Brad Stevens would be a strong candidate for ‘Coach of the Year’ in the NBA, losing three starters and reaching the East Finals for the second year in a row.

The leadership of Al Horford in the playoffs and the ‘poise’ of three young starters, 25-yeard-old Terry Rosier, 21-year-old Jaylen Brown and 20-point-scorer Jason Tatum.

Back in Boston, the series will be won by the Celtics. The Celtics bench, led by Marcus Morris (17-points) and the play of Aaron Baynes, will be a key to the series with the Cavaliers.

Get Ready for the Finals!

Go Celts!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Undermanned

and Relentless

The Philadelphia 76ers were 9½ point favorites on their home court on Saturday afternoon. The Celtics won the opening two games in the series.

Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles was in the stands. Philly had won 21 out of their last 22 games, before the playoffs began.

The 76ers had confetti in the rafters, ready to celebrate a big victory. The green team won in overtime (101-98) to take a (3-0) lead in the best-of-seven semi-final series. (Editors Note) This story was written on Sunday!

Philly was ‘boasting’ that Ben Simmons was ‘Rookie of the Year.’ Ben had one-point in the last game in the Garden. The Rookie of the Year’ should be Jason Tatum.

Tatum finished with 24-poing game three was Jason’s fifth consecutive playoff game scoring 20-points/ The record passed Larry ‘the Legend’ Bird’s rookie year record.

Al Horford (playoff Al) scored the big points and made the big plans in overtime. The ‘skeptics’ who felt Al was not worth all the ‘big money’ the Celtics contract for ‘Big Al’ are praising his play during the playoffs.

The Celtics will reach the Eastern Conference final for the second year in a row. Bring on ‘King James’ – Lebron James. Coach Brad Stevens should be Coach of the Year and Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier, will lead the ‘Green Team’ to the NBA Championship in 2019.

Go Celts!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Lights Out

The Tampa Ray Lightning struck the Boston Bruins winning four out of the last five, to send the Bruins packing!

The Bruins won 50-games in the regular season, lost the conference title by only one point and thrilled their many faithful in the ‘Hub of Hockey’.

The series victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs was exciting, with the Bruins winning the game in “seventh Heaven” in the TD Garden. I hail the play of Tuukka Rask in goal. He was outstanding and for those fans who want “two U’s and two K’s” traded, he was stellar between the pipes!

Coach Bruce Cassidy did an outstanding job behind the bench! The infusion of young talent, drafted by GM Don Sweeney, gives great hope the Bruins will be in the playoffs every year.

Put the ice on hold!

Raise the flags!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Extra Points

The first track meet at the ‘new’ Miller Field Stadium and Track will be the first WHS track meet in 12 years. Let’s fill Miller Field on Monday, May 14^, vs. Saugus.

Ready, Set, Go!

The Las Vegas oddsmakers picked the Philly 76ers to win the semi-final playoff round vs. the Celtics. On Saturday afternoon, the ‘home team’ – 76er’s were 9 ½ point favorites. On Monday night at Philly, with the Celtics leading (3-0) in the series. Philly was a 9-½ point favorite.

Bring on the Cavaliers!

Let’s Go Celtics!

How long will the playoffs in Boston for the month of May? Or will the Celtics continue their miracle in May? I believe coach Brad Stevens is the ‘best’ tactical coach on the NBA.

The Celtics in 2019 will be loaded wit h all-stars. The healthy return of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, will give the Celtics ‘four’ all-stars in the starting lineup.

Bring on Golden State!

Let’s Go Green!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Behind the Plate

The Boston Red Sox have the best record in baseball (as of Monday, May 7), (25-9) with the Yankees trailing by only one game. The Sox play their ‘hated rivals,’ Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the ‘Big Apple.’

The Sox have received excellent pitching from Rick Porcello (5-0) and Chris Sale (3-1) 64-strikeouts! David Price (the $31 million dollar man) is once again a huge question mark.

The addition of J.D. Martinez .349 average – eight homeruns. The outstanding play of Mookie Betts (.355 average and 12 homeruns.

The play of Xander Boegarts .333 average, Mitch Moreland .347 and five homeruns and the pitching of Craig Kimbrell (1.23 ERA) gives hope for a play-off team.

I hope the Celtics play-off run continues until June!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Thirty Love

The ‘moratorium’ is over, the town council finally voted to end the period of time, the courts will remain and the idea of a ‘parking lot’ is totally absurd.

I received a visit from an ex-WHS tennis captain recently. “He remarked – we have a beautiful new high school and a spectacular football stadium, how come they did not fix the ageless Wallace B.  McClean tennis courts?

The ‘Save our Courts’ committee, headed by coach Marie Finn (40 varsity, JV players) will come up with a very low figure to repair 0 rebuild the courts. Tennis for everyone – young and old – despite the ‘negative’ town councilor.

Game, Set, Match

Victory WHS Vikings!

Let the Games Begin!

 

Vikings Sports Schedule

Home Games

Monday, May 19

Lacrosse girls vs. Stoneham – 7 p.m. at Miller Field

Track vs. Saugus – 4 p.m. at Miller Field

Boy’s tennis vs. Gloucester – 4 p.m. at McClean Courts

 

Wednesday, May 16

Baseball vs. Medford – 4 p.m. at Veterans Field

Girl’s tennis vs. Medford – 4 p.m. at McClean Courts

 

Thursday, May 17

Boy’s Lacrosse vs. Salem – 4 p.m. at Miller Field.

Squirt A goes all the way

Winthrop Youth Hockey team captures division championship

When the Squirt A Valley League playoffs opened up the lowest possible seed(#7) belonged to the Winthrop Squirt A team. Although the team knew that their seeding was misleading, their opponents did not, and it ended up being to their demise. Winthrop began their playoff tourney by knocking off the #2 seed Methuen led by a Herculean effort from Mikey Holgersen, and stellar goaltending of Will Murphy. They then had the task of taking on the number #3 seed north reading in the second round. A tight battle once again saw Mikey Holgersen go into beast mode, and Will Murphy shut the door on the way to a hard fought win.

In the third game (which was for the American division championship), Winthrop had to beat the #4 seed North Andover (they beat #1 seed Cape Ann to advance). North Andover was a very strong team, but was no match for the now winthrop winning machine, and with the power lines of Holgersen, Luke “G” Ginthinji, Tyler Eaton. Nolan Upton, “magic” Mike D’ambrosio, Luke”bellsie” belghiti. Steven gear, isiah”ice”Bueno, and Bert Kline. Along with a trio of defenseman in Caitlyn”cod” O’Donnell, Amelia Spencer, and Talia Martucci. The Squirt A team rolled past North Andover and put themselves In line to play for the valley league universal championship. Winchester won the national division, and that set up an epic battle between two teams that had split the season series 1-1-1.

The final game was all that it was hyped up to be. Winthrop took an early two-goal lead on goals from Mikey Holgersen (who finished the playoffs with Gretzky like numbers 14-3-17 points), and Luke Belghiti. That lead would not last though as Winchester got a power play goal to cut the  lead to 2-1, and then with only three minutes to go in the game they would knot the score at 2, setting up the drama that would eventually propel the Vikings to the crown. A five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period would not be enough to decide the outcome as both teams exchanged scoring chances with the open ice, but neither could muster the game winner.

This one would go to a shootout, and when it did. The Vikings would rise to the occasion, or should I say Will Murphy would become a stonewall, and carry the team to victory. After the first two Viking shooters were stifled, and so were the first 3 Winchester shooters (on 3 fantastic saves by murphy). Setting the stage for what would be the final two Winthrop shooters on the day. Winthrop’s next shooter was talia Martucci, and if she could score would put Winthrop ahead by a pivotal goal, with Winchester down to its last two shots. Martucci elected to go the serpentine route and fire a wrist shot past the Winchester goalie that sent the Winthrop faithful into a frenzy. The 1-0 lead would be more than enough as the amazing will murphy would once again stop the 4th Winchester shooter. With that save by murphy the game, and the universal championship would lay on the stick of Winthrop’s next shooter. Nolan ”no-no” Upton would be shooting with the title hanging in the balance, a goal from Nolan and the game would be over. Winchester would only have one shot left, and would not be able to catch up to Winthrop. The straight up the middle approach by Upton would be perfect, especially when he buried a wrist shot over the Winchester goalies blocker that sent Viking nation into complete pandemonium, and secured the championship.

The Winthrop coaching staff of Bert Kline, Mike Upton, Steve Holgersen, and Anthony Martucci were very proud of the team, and their incredible run. “These kids really worked hard, they played together, never gave up, and because of that they are champions.” Said Bert Kline. The Winthrop Squirt A team would like to thank Steve Indresano, and all of the members of the Winthrop youth hockey board, as well as all of the parents for their support.