By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Rockets could not ride their six-game win streak to a Senior Night victory against Walpole on Monday evening, as they fell 19-6. Needham finishes the regular season with an 11-6 record and No. 15 seed in the Division I playoff bracket, assuring it at least one home game.
Before opening faceoff, 11 seniors were honored with a walk down an aisle of underclassmen teammates while accompanied by parents. First-year head coach Lindsay Hope shared wonderful messages about each of her senior players as their name was called.
“I've really built relationships with them over the past couple of months,” Hope said. “It's a great group of girls. The dedication that they've presented to me has been something that I don't think every team really has. I'm really proud of them… They're a significant part of my team, so it's something that I'm grateful for.”
Despite the great pre-game ceremony, the game itself did not turn out so well for Needham.
After Walpole started with two free position goals in the first six minutes, captain Sophia Meade answered with a free position goal of her own. That was the only score that the Rockets would manage in the first quarter, however, as they entered the first break with a 6-1 disadvantage.
A twelve minute gap in between goals allowed Walpole to take a 12-1 lead until captain Sami Bonasia found the back of the net twice to cut the score down to 12-3. On the defensive end, the Rockets did not surrender any goals in the final 6:58 of the second quarter.
But Needham was unable to maintain the defensive momentum in the second half. Walpole managed to tack on three more goals while the lone addition to Needham’s side of the scoreboard came from junior Addie Stedman.
The final frame went in a similar fashion as Needham surrendered four goals, but Bonasia was able to notch her third goal of the game and freshman Samantha Horvat scored at the tail end of the contest.
“I think there's a lot of things to highlight, even if the score didn’t necessarily show it,” Hope said. “[Walpole] is a great team, and there's a lot that we can look back on and be really proud of.”
With the regular season at a finish, Needham is staying game-ready with a scrimmage against Weston before taking on No.18 Acton-Boxborough in the first round of the playoffs.
“I'm very proud of the way we ended the season and I think that the scrimmage is going to be a great way for us to continue into the playoffs,” Hope said. “I think that we’re going to come out strong and I think we’re going to really fight.”
If Needham is able to get by Acton-Boxborough, it will see the winner of No. 2 Wellesley and No. 31 Attleboro.
