By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Needham High School Varsity Boys’ Soccer struck early and often in Walpole on Wednesday afternoon, opening the scoring less than ten minutes into the game and keeping pace for a 4-1 victory over the Timberwolves.
Playing with scoring on the mind early, the Rockets wagered a host of shots on goal in the opening minutes of the match. Walpole keeper Jack Towers stood tall against the attacks to keep the visitors off the board.
In the tenth minute Ollie Gannon put a pass right where it needed to be for Omar Bugazia to knock in the first goal of the afternoon for Needham. Less than a minute later, the Rockets found themselves with an opportunity to extend the lead. Hugging the baseline Matthew Barten put the ball out in front of the net for Campbell Keyes to put away, pushing the lead to 2-0.
The game’s second half saw more of the same from the Needham offense. Despite the best efforts of Towers, Avery Brodsky snagged a long feed from Alex Rufo and found twine for the 3-0 lead. Moving the ball well all afternoon, the Rockets’ first three goals were each scored by a unique player and each received an assist from a unique player.
Any hope for a Walpole comeback was all but extinguished late as Keyes headed in a pass from Bugazia to extend the advantage to 4-0.
Not interested in being shut out, Walpole’s Austin Feener secured a fast break opportunity, beating the Needham keeper in a one-on-one to put the Timberwolves on the board in the waning minutes of the contest.
The Rockets dominated time of possession throughout the contest, depriving the Timberwolves of strong opportunities to score while capitalizing on their own at a high clip. Needham head coach James Odierna was pleased with how his offense took pressure off of his defensive unit. “We have a very strong defense, but playing good defense doesn’t win you games all the time… you’re never going to win if you don’t score,” he said. “We try to come out of the back strong… and we flood forward well, that showed today.”
The victory kept Needham unbeaten in league play this season. The Rockets will face a rematch with Walpole in their final game of the season on October 26 in Needham.
