WINTHROP — For Winthrop boys lacrosse, it’s all about the team.
You hear it in the voice of head coach Brian Donnelly, you see it on the sidelines as the players interact with each other and most importantly, you see it on the field.
“I think that’s what made this such a good year, we always play as a team,” said Donnelly. “There’s no one star on this team. We have so many weapons offensively, and defensively we also play as a unit. Guys are always picking up their teammates.”
The results can speak for themselves. The Vikings are 16-1 on the year with one game left to play (Wednesday night against Mystic Valley). Eight players were named Northeastern Conference South all-stars, including a Defensive Player of the Year, and Donnelly was named Coach of the Year.
The first-team all-stars for the Vikings this year were Andrew DiMento, Pat Senott, Joe Mahoney and James Silva. DiMento was also named Defensive Player of the Year. On the second team, Luke Evangelista, Austin Daigneault, Aiden Cifuni and Matt Hurley represented the Vikings.
But the list of all-stars doesn’t even fully cover the number of contributors for Winthrop this season. A strong junior class and a talented group of up-and-coming sophomores round out the solid Vikings roster.
Critically important to Winthrop’s success this year has been DiMento, a senior goalie who is a four-year starter for the Vikings.
“He’s been our anchor for years now,” Donnelly said of DiMento. “He talks the most on defense and we certainly look to him as our leader. He’s made huge progressions on the field this year as well.”
But all of the accolades and great play during the regular season will be for naught if the Vikings don’t make something happen in this year’s state tournament.
Winthrop has made it to the big dance in each of the last four years under Donnelly’s leadership. The Vikings earned one tournament win last year, a 13-6 win over Northeast, before getting bounced by No. 2 Austin Prep in the quarterfinal round. But this year’s team, with seven seniors and even more tournament experience, is ready to go further.
“We’re just really looking for senior leadership to step up and do what they’ve done all year,” said Donnelly. “That’s to make sure the younger guys are comfortable, keep everything settled and push the button when it needs to be pushed.”
The Vikings will close out the season Wednesday evening (5) when they host Mystic Valley in a non-conference matchup for their Senior Night. And while the seedings are likely in place already, Winthrop wants to end the regular season on a high note and get some momentum going into the tournament.
“I think we just have to look to our players to continue to step up and progress as they have been,” said Donnelly. “We really focus in on ‘team, team, team.’ We want our seniors to step up and we also want our younger guys to show what they’ve got. So we’re just making sure that as we move forward, we move forward together.”
