WINTHROP — The Winthrop boys hockey team may have had to wait awhile, but that didn’t make it any less sweet Monday evening when the Vikings picked up their first win of the season after defeating Beverly, 2-1, in a Northeastern Conference matchup at Larsen Rink.
“It was nice to pick up the win and we’re happy to get it, but I don’t think we played particularly well out there,” said Winthrop coach Dale Dunbar. “We took a lot of unnecessary penalties and struggled with turnovers, so there’s still plenty to clean up out there.”
For Winthrop, which hadn’t seen the ice since Dec. 22 and suffered two close losses to open the season, Monday’s win was just the first step in what is still a long season ahead.
“You can only practice against each other so much,” said Dunbar. “We haven’t played another team or even seen another rink since before Christmas, and you could definitely see the rust on us early in the game.”
The scoring for Winthrop was all done by junior Jack Hayes and sophomore Pete Silverman, with each assisting on the other’s goal and each finishing with one goal and one assist. Vikings senior goalie Anthony Indrisano earned the victory in net, making a number of clutch saves down the stretch to seal the win.
The Vikings came right out and struck first in this one, getting a tally from Silverman less than eight minutes into the game. After Hayes found the back of the net a few minutes later, Winthrop was able to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Beverly was able to respond in the second period, cutting the deficit in half on a goal midway through the frame.
But after that, the Winthrop defense took over. The Vikings were able to play solid fundamental hockey the rest of the way, possessing the puck and not allowing Beverly to get too many scoring opportunities. Add in Indrisano’s solid play in net, and Winthrop was able to skate away with its first win of the season.
“We work a lot in practice on playing box-plus-one when we’re down and winning faceoffs and controlling possession when we’re ahead,” said Dunbar. “Our guys did a really good job of that, especially in that third period.”
Winthrop (1-2-0) plays on the road against Marblehead Friday (7:30) at Rockett Arena.
“That’s going to be another big one for us,” said Dunbar. “It’s a test for us every night in our league, but it’ll be nice to get out to a different rink and hopefully get our legs under us.”
