By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Rockets’ season came to an end on Wednesday evening as they were unable to defeat Wellesley on the road. The 19-6 loss marks the official end of head coach Lindsay Hope’s first season with Needham, who finishes with an overall record of 12-7.
Hope showed signs of a promising future for the program after guiding her team to the Round of 16 following two years of Needham exiting in the Round of 32. However, she will have to do it without a great group of seniors.
“It was an incredible experience,” Hope said of her first season. “The girls that I got on my team were incredible… I got handed a great group of girls and I'm super proud of them. I'm lucky to have a team that is made up of all 22 of my athletes.”
Despite a good performance throughout most of the year, the Rockets struggled to hold their own against Wellesley.
The Raiders scored their first goal 23 seconds into the game and got out to a 6-0 lead within the first three minutes. It wasn’t until 6:25 that Needham was able to tally a goal of its own. Captain Emmie Verville found the back of the net with a few ticks over a minute left in the first frame for the team’s second goal. By the end of the first quarter, the Rockets found themselves in a nine-goal deficit by a score of 11-2.
The rest of the game proved to be a closer affair but the damage done in the first quarter was too much to surmount. When the first half came to a close, Needham trailed 14-3. Its only goal of the quarter came with 1:42 remaining.
Captain Sami Bonasia started off the scoring in the second half of the game to cut the deficit to 10. It was her third goal of the game, which led the team.
“Her performance was incredible,” Hope said. “No one can really put any type of other word on it… I think she constantly continued to fight for our team.”
Junior Addie Stedman scored the only other goal of the third quarter, while sophomore Lila Jantzen scored the only goal of the fourth quarter for Needham.
Bonasia and Verville are joined by Hannah Patey and Sophia Meade as senior captains who will be leaving the program. Alongside the captains are seniors Gianna Moreschi, Ella Rosenbaum, Karolina Brinkhaus, Jill Peabody, Lisa O’Leary and Courtney Tobin.
Several key contributors will return for the six-time state champions in an effort to secure lucky number seven. The Rockets continue their hunt for the program's first championship since 2017.
