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The Winchester High field hockey team couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Four games played, and all of them were wins, all by shutout.
The team first defeated Wilmington in the home opener on Sept. 3, 6-0. It was then Arlington’s turn to come to Knowlton on Sept. 5, and the Spy Ponders experienced the same lopsided results.
The Red & Black welcomed Stoneham to town on Sept. 9, but by game’s end the home team had another win by a 3-0 count. Two days later, it was Winchester’s time to board the bus for Woburn, where it pinned a 6-0 loss on the Tanners.
Ellie Drake was the scoring leader against Wilmington with two goals and two assists. Madelyn Rabinovich, Julia Fredey, Sloane McCarthy and Joyce Chen netted one goal apiece. Samantha Gal. Addy Aufiero and McCarthy were each credited with one assist.
Against Arlington, Chen was one of the team’s top scorers with a couple of goals. Gal chipped in with one goal and two assists. McCarthy had a goal. Drake came through with a goal and an assist. Stella DeCristoforo tallied once. Aufiero set up two markers, Fredey one.
Madison von Mering, Aufiero and Chen produced the goals against Stoneham. Aufiero, Chen and von Mering were the playmakers.
In the Woburn game last Thursday (Sept. 11), McCarthy was on fire with three scores. Drake was close behind with two goals. Emme McCabe closed out the scoring in this game with a goal. Riley Pimentel, Aufiero and Chen collected the assists. Senior goalie Isabella Bogovich came up with two saves against the Spartans.
In the non-league road game against Walpole last Saturday, the winning streak came to a halt, when the 2024 Division 1 state champs upended the Red & Black, 6-1. They also eliminated the Winchester girls in the Division 1 state semifinals prior to that title game last November, 3-0.
Last year, coach Michelle White’s team completed the regular season with a 12-6 record. They were the 11th seed in the final Division 1 power rankings, and proceeded to make it all the way to the Final Four after beating Brookline (3-1), Central Catholic (3-2) and Algonquin (2-1), before aforementioned Walpole spoiled the postseason fun. The Timberwolves then went on to beat Andover, 2-0 to secure the state crown.
There are 39 players in this year’s program split between the varsity and JV teams. The fast start to the season is not really a surprise, because, as coach White said in a preseason assessment, “we play as a team, and we are not solely relying on any one or two players.”
Senior midfielder Madelyn Ravinovich, junior back Addy Aufiero and Bogovich are this year’s captains.
The Red & Black had three scrimmages to get ready for the season. They took on Weston, Newton North and Newburyport, and the veteran coach said that it all went well during this evaluation period, which was used to put together both rosters.
White knows it’s way too early in the season for any predictions, because the competition will once again be tough, particularly in the Middlesex League Liberty Division that Winchester is a part of, along with Arlington, Reading, Belmont and Lexington. In the Middlesex League Freedom Division, White added that Watertown, a perennial state powerhouse, will arguably be the toughest game on the schedule.
White, starting her 21st year as the Winchester varsity head coach, is once again assisted by Kara Napolitano, a special education teacher at the high school. Shelagh Fluharty has been added to the staff as the program’s JV coach. She played field hockey at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. Sunny Shepherd, who played the sport at the University of Pennsylvania, is also a new coach, who is helping out both squads as a volunteer assistant.
The Red & Black are scheduled to take on Melrose (Sept. 16, 4:15 p.m.) and Lexington (Sept. 18, 4:15 p.m.) at home this week at Knowlton Field, looking to return to their winning ways.
