By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Needham boys lacrosse team hosted the Newton North Tigers on Thursday, May 2 for their tenth Bay State Conference competition of the season. The Rockets dominated over the Tigers, solidifying their seventh straight win against Newton North 12-3.
In the first quarter, both teams were on the scoreboard early, but the Rockets slipped past Newton North 4-2 to close the first. Heading into the second quarter, Senior captains Sean Reilly and Jimmy Kenney led Needham’s offensive and ripped shots on the net early in the quarter. Despite Needham’s efforts, Newton North was the first to capitalize in the second quarter, putting in what would be their last goal of the evening, closing Needham to a slim one-point lead. It wasn’t for long until junior Reis Conway netted a goal jumpstarting Needham’s pressure around the cage. Needham went on to score two more points and closed the half in the lead 7-3.
Halfway into the third quarter of Needham’s relentless attempts on the net, Needham’s senior Spencer Chapman broke the silence besting Newton North to another point for the Rockets. 59 seconds later, junior Nick Sewall tallied in another point for Needham and the boys were taking stride. Just as the third quarter was wrapping up, Sean Reilly slipped in another goal to polish off the quarter 10-3 for Needham.
By the fourth quarter, Rockets’ Reis Conway was back in action around the cage, capitalizing on their man-up advantage putting up another point on the board. Soon after, senior captain Jimmy Kenney ripped in another goal giving the team a comfortable 12-3 lead. Newton North pressured Needham in those final minutes, but the Rockets deflected the Tigers and finished the game 12-3.
Head coach David Wainwright shared some adjustments the team made to secure their home-field advantage win: “We knew coming in that we were going to be tested in our ten-man ride…but we made some adjustments by sending one of our guys to their side of the field a little earlier than when we normally would, and that adjustment opened everything up for us,” said Wainwright. The guys now hold a 11-4 of the regular season record.
The Rockets will host Framingham High on Friday, May 17 at 4 PM.
