Late Score Lifts Raiders Over Rockets

Needham knew it would need an afternoon of brilliant goaltending and stellar defensive play for the Rockets to keep a high-scoring Wellesley squad team in check.

Needham only stumbled once against a team that scored 11 goals in its first two games, but that one time ended up being the difference. Kevin O'Brien scored with just over seven minutes remaining to lift Wellesley to a very hard-fought, 1-0 victory over the Rockets at Sprague Field Tuesday afternoon.

The game fell in the middle of a difficult three game stretch in which Needham (0-2) already faced Brookline and plays Framingham Thursday.

"I was very pleased because we lost a tough one to Brookline and we've got a pile of injuries," said Rockets coach Don Brock. "I have six guys sitting on the bench, including one of our captains."

"I was very pleased with how we came out," Brock continued. "We've got another tough one Thursday with Framingham. We played Brookline, who is one of the top teams in the state, Wellesley, who I think is one of the top teams in the state, and then Framingham. It's a week from hell with three unbelievable teams in one week."

Needham's junior goalkeeper Jake Bronstein was outstanding all afternoon with seven saves while senior Alex Mayo led a defensive group that is suffering from injuries and had to put some players into unfamiliar spots.

The patchwork lineup held the fort until Wellesley's (3-0) Gray Lewis made a terrific individual effort to shed a pair of defenders and flick a pass across the middle to O'Brien. O'Brien slipped a bit on the play, but maintained enough control to get a shot off with his left foot that found the back of the net.

"Gray is the one who's been scoring goals for us all year and I've been trying to catch him. He did all the work on that one," O'Brien said. "He brought it into the corner and then got a perfect pass to me. I had the ball on my right foot but didn't have a clear foot so I brought it across my body and my right foot blew out a bit so I just swung at it with my left and fortunately I hit it hard enough so the goalie couldn't get anything on it"

Until that point, Bronstein and the Rockets defense had Wellesley frustrated. O'Brien had five quality scoring chances before his goal, three of which Bronstein stopped and one of which hit the post behind him. Brock was definitely pleased with the effort of his defensive unit.

"He's a junior goalie and he always plays very well. Jake was very steady today. I'm very pleased with how he played," said Needham coach Don Brock. "The defense was terrific and it was the first time we played that particular combination of players because one of our captains has a bad ankle. The kids did a nice job and filled in some spots that some of them hadn't played before."

Added Wellesley coach Colm Hamill, "The goaltending was fantastic. Our keeper had a lot of work to do and Needham's goalkeeper made a string of excellent saves to keep them in it. He really deserved more than getting a defeat out of it."