Fishermen Raid the Vikings, 4-0

Gloucester avenged a 0-1 loss to Winthrop earlier this year by beating the Vikings 4-0 in Winthrop.

A strong first fifteen minutes from the Gloucester XI led to Marcos Rodrigues' first goal of the season. Rodrigues took a pass from Anthony LaRocca before crossing to the back post. Instead of finding a Fishermen head, the ball found the back of the net.

Gloucester let the Vikings back into the game when their up-tempo passing game slowed down. Winthrop looked dangerous on several restarts in the first half but strong clearances from the Fishermen back four and Chase Kelly's command of the penalty box kept Winthrop from scoring.

The Fishermen began the second half by returning to up-tempo passing and high-pressure defending. The tactics yielded dividends when LaRocca turned powerfully on a Ben Hannah pass before firing off the right-hand post.

Having doubled their advantage the Fishermen went looking for more goals. Chris Peritore scored his tenth goal of the season on an incisive pass from Hannah, who played perhaps his best game of the season as a deep lying holding midfielder.

The Fishermen finished their scoring minutes from the end. The move started when a pass from the Fishermen back line found target striker Aaron Horne, who played a square pass to Quinn O'Neill streaking down the right wing. O'Neill's cross found Kevin Hurd, who glancing header, was finished by left midfielder Paul Sutherland's run to the back post.

The Fishermen now travel to Swampscott on Tuesday, needing three points from their final two games in order to qualify for the state tournament.