Boys Soccer Picks Up 11th Win

There's no question that it's better when your team is leading by two goals late in the game instead of one, as was the case with the Needham boys varsity soccer team, who defeated Norwood on Tuesday, 2-0.

“We’re all nervous when it’s 1-0 because all it takes is one weird little bounce or something and the other team is back in it, which could happened very easily,” head coach Don Brock said. “We shut them down, and that was crucial.”   

The Rockets picked up their intensity from Sunday’s drubbing against the Bridgewater-Raynham with an early goal by Brandon Miskin. Although, once the Needham first goal celebration concluded, Norwood’s goalkeeper Andrew Stover kept the Mustangs in contention until mid-way through the second half, which was when Harry Swartz rifled his 14th goal of the season into his opponent’s net for a 2-0 lead.

“They’ve thumped us for the last three years,” Norwood head coach Brian Meringer said of Needham. “We were trying to come in here and get the point, [which didn’t happen].” 

“I was disappointed we didn’t put a few more away, play better. I guess we needed a few of the goals we had on Sunday in this game, but it was adequate. They held them off defensively and the couple that we scored were nice goals,” Brock said.

Needham finished the game with 20 shots on net compared to Norwood’s five, while Rockets goaltender Jake Bronstein recorded two saves.

“The stats were there, we just didn’t get the ball in the net, which is happened a couple times, but the defense came up big,” Brock said.

Though the Rockets will certainly enjoy their 11th win of the season, they also will need to regroup quickly before traveling to Weymouth on Thursday for a 3:45 p.m. kick-off.