The Needham boys’ soccer team advanced to the MIAA Division 1 quarterfinals last night with a 3-0 home victory over Boston College High School. The teams played a scoreless first half before the Rockets broke through with goals by Harry Clapham, Danny Jordan and Matteo Neretti after the intermission. In the round of 8, No. 2 seed Needham, now 16-2-2, will host unbeaten No. 10 seed Franklin, which knocked off No. 7 Newton North 2-0. That game will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. Needham reached the round of 16 by defeating Lexington 2-0 on Nov. 5.
The girls’ volleyball team, now 16-3 on the season, hosts Attleboro (15-6) in a quarterfinal match starting at 5 this afternoon. Needham is the No. 5 seed in Division 1, Attleboro the No. 13. The winner will face the winner of tonight’s match between top-seeded Newton North (22-1 this season) and No. 8 seed Bishop Feehan (19-3) at Newton. Needham advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over No. 12 Brookline on Nov. 6.
Needham’s football team, seeded No. 3 in Division 1, hosts No. 6 seed Methuen tonight night with the winner advancing to the Final Four. On Nov. 3, the Rockets (8-1) knocked off Westford Academy 35-17, while Methuen (7-2) was thumping Natick 47-7. Tonight’s winner will face the winner of Friday night’s game between No. 2 seed Xaverian and No. 7 Springfield Central in the semifinals.
The field hockey team, seeded No. 12, was eliminated Tuesday in the round of 16, losing 3-0 at No. 5 seed Acton-Boxborough. “We couldn’t be prouder of Needham’s teamwork, their grit and most of all the heart with which they played right ‘till the final buzzer,” assistant coach Margaret Kelly told the Observer yesterday. Needham finished with a 14-6 record.
The girls’ swim and dive team is preparing for Saturday’s state championships at MIT. After snapping Wellesley’s 76-meet win streak last month, and later winning its first Bay State Conference title in 20 years, the Rockets finished a close second to Wellesley in last Sunday’sMIAA South sectional meet at Boston University. Wellesley will be looking for its fourth straight state crown.
The boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams are getting ready for Saturday’s divisional championship at the Gardner Golf Course. The girls finished in second place in last month’s Bay State Conference championship meet. The boys came in sixth.
The coed unified basketball team won its final home game of the season last week, 38-32, over Walpole. Before the game, the NHS squad was honored as a National Unified Champion School by Special Olympics Massachusetts.
After winning last week’s Bay State Conference Invitational, Needham’s cheerleaders will be one of nine Division 1 teams competing in Sunday’s South regionals at Franklin High School.
The dance team is looking ahead to the Nov. 18 state tournament after coming in fifth at last weekend’s Endicott Invitational.
And the winter sports season is just ahead!
Save as PDF