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Sports

Brockton Ends Needham Girls Soccer Run

Needham girls soccer squad brought down by Boxers.

An undermanned Needham girls' soccer team suffered a 7-1 loss to 10th-seeded Brockton at Memorial Field, finishing its season with a 12-3-3 record.

The normally rock solid defense was missing some key players Tuesday and the inexperienced underclassmen endured some tough stretches that left them in a hole they couldn't dig out of.

The 7th-seeded Rockets' defense was anchored by sophomore defender Alyssa Raskind in what was a difficult night for the defense, which faced a pretty constant Brockton attack in the cold and rain.

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Brockton senior defender Tess Stapleton got her team on the board early when her corner kick found its way through a crowded box and into the top netting. Goals from juniors Morgan Branco, who finished with three, and Tori Hancock had Needham down 3-0 at the half. 

"All across the board everyone just put that best effort in," said Brockton coach Andrea Tassinari. "We tried to keep them as focused as possible and they played together and were able to put the ball in the back of the net."

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Brockton took over 13 minutes into the second half scoring four goals in six minutes to put the game out of reach. Sophomore Felicia Mulholland scored the last two of those goals just a minute apart as she got in behind the Rocket defense with well timed runs and some evasive dribbling.

"We didn't play as sharp as I would like us to, but it was good enough to win tonight," said Tassinari. "We're happy to be moving on. That was the goal from the beginning of the season."

Needham's lone goal came off of a great corner kick from junior Tory Waldstein. The high kick was well-placed inside the six-yard box where sophomore Sammy Dunn was able to flick it on to freshman Kira Oberle who headed it home. Despite getting few chances on Brockton's goal, Waldstein and Oberle played well up front for the Rockets.

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