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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
A late offensive barrage sealed the deal for the Needham High School boys varsity lacrosse team on Thursday night. Behind strong fourth quarter performances by attack-men Danny McEvoy (four goals) and Jason Child (three goals), the No. 2 Rockets (16-3) took down No. 7 Marshfield (12-6) by a final of 14-6.
Midfielder John Andre drew first blood for Needham when he went coast-to-coast on a clear, as the speedster faked high and shot low to give the Rockets the 1-0 edge just over four minutes into the contest. Marshfield responded with two goals in the final 3:32 of the quarter to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
Junior midfielder Michael Calcagni tied the game at two on the man-up less than a minute into the second quarter, but Marshfield was quick to seize back the lead with a crank off the ensuing faceoff, as the Rams held a 3-2 lead with 7:57 to play in the half. Michael Calcagni’s second of the quarter tied the game back up at three when he drove to the cage and finished with a strong left-handed bouncer with 5:42 to play. Sophomore Brendan Walsh then gave Needham back the lead on a beautiful fake, cut to the cage, and left-handed rip low with 4:34 remaining. Senior goaltender Austin Shaver (12 saves) made two massive stops in the final minute of the quarter, preserving the one-goal edge for Needham at the half.
Shaver continued to excel in the opening minutes of the second half, nabbing three saves in the first five minutes (two with stick, one with right leg). Following the third save by Shaver, Needham set up shop in the Marshfield end and Danny McEvoy put home his first of the contest off a rebound of an Eric O’Brien shot to make it 5-3 Needham with 6:43 to play in the quarter. Marshfield fought back to cut it to a 5-4 game less than a minute later, but Needham would go on a 2-0 run to close out the quarter thanks to goals by Andre and McEvoy, both of which were set up by pristine passes via senior Antonio Trabucco and senior LSM and UMass commit Sam Eisenstadt, and the Rockets took a 7-4 lead into the fourth.
Right off the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter, Joe Bruno fed a pass to Danny McEvoy who sprinted in and fired a shot high to give Needham a four-goal edge at 8-4 just seven seconds in. Marshfield cut it back to 8-5 with 8:56 to play but a pair of goals by Boston University commit Jason Child gave Needham a commanding six-goal edge at 11-5 with 6:10 to play. Marshfield added another to make it 11-6 but Child would add another to complete the hat trick off a righty rip, and Calcagni would also add another to complete a hat trick of his own. McEvoy’s fourth of the half extended the Needham lead to eight and the Rockets would go on to win by a final of 14-6, sending them into the South Semifinals for a tilt against Duxbury.
Unfortunately, that would be where the Rockets’ run would end, as the Needham boys fell, 14-7, against the Dragons.
