Rockets Go 0-2 Against Milton At Home

• Boys lacrosse and baseball are both 2-4 after losses this week. 

Needham boys lacrosse fell to Milton 7-4 on Tuesday, April 14, for its first loss to the Wildcats in more than 20 years. The following day, baseball suffered the same fate, dropping to 2-4 on the season with a 9-2 loss. 

Milton goalkeeper Ben Mirdura played exceptionally well in net during the boys lacrosse game, stopping 13 of the Rockets’ 17 shots on goal. Junior Matt Ledbury continued his strong season for Needham, scoring a team-high two goals to bring his season total to 15. 

Both teams turned the ball over on bad passes multiple times early on. Milton broke through first with a goal from Bobby Naumes with just under five minutes remaining in the quarter. The Rockets responded, tying the game with one minute left in the quarter on a goal from Cal Sullivan, but the Wildcats regained the lead with 27 seconds remaining on a goal by Tyler Wegner. 

Needham tied the game at 2 midway through the second quarter with a goal from Gavin Berardi, but Milton scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead. Ledbury added a goal with 15 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Rockets’ deficit to 2. 

Milton added one goal in the third, as both goalkeepers made incredible saves to keep the quarter low scoring. Ronan Sammon completed his hat trick at the 7:57 mark of the fourth quarter, putting the Wildcats up 7-3. Ledbury tallied the final goal for the Rockets, but Needham struggled to generate chances after that and fell, 7-4.

Despite an evenly matched game, with the teams separated by just one shot on goal and Milton winning nine face-offs to Needham’s six, the Wildcats broke through for their first win over the Rockets in more than 20 years. Midura was the difference in net for Milton, stopping 13 of 17 shots, while Needham’s goalie, Ben Lieberman, stopped 11 out of the Wildcats’ 18 shots.  

Boys lacrosse then fell to Newton North, 8-7, at home on Thursday, April 16. They will face No. 15 ranked Walpole and participate in the Player’s Cup Tournament over the April school vacation. 

For baseball, the Rockets’ bats struggled against Milton pitcher Rafael Corcoran, who went six innings allowing just two hits and one earned run. 

Will Cassidy started on the mound for Needham and allowed a single to Peter Mullen after getting the leadoff batter to ground out. After recording the second out of the inning, Cassidy walked Teddy Dunn and gave up two RBI singles by Peter Buckley and Michael McGee, giving Milton a 2-0 lead after the first inning. 

Corcoran picked up his first strikeout in the second inning against Nick Buckley, and both teams went scoreless until the fifth inning.

Milton added two more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-0 lead. Matthew Mullaney was brought in to replace Cassidy after the first run in the inning. Needham responded with a run in the bottom half, as freshman Charlie O’Brien hit an RBI single to bring William Moore-Ede home.

The Wildcats did not let up in the sixth, scoring two more runs on a couple of Rocket fielding errors. The Rockets answered with a run in the bottom of the inning but still trailed 6-2. Milton added three more runs in the seventh to take a commanding seven-run lead.

Corcoran’s day ended after six innings, with Tim O’Sullivan pitching the final inning. After allowing a walk and single, O’Sullivan struck out Sawyer Wilk, forced a pop up and struck out Patrick Killeen to close out the game.

The Rockets scattered just three singles and stranded six runners on base. With the loss, Needham fell to 2-4 on the season.

Baseball will host Wellesley (3-3) on Saturday, April 18 at 12 p.m. at Memorial Park, weather permitting, before traveling to face St. John’s Prep (3-3) next week.

Boys volleyball lost its first match of the season to Natick, 3-0, on Tuesday, April 14, but responded with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-11) sweep of Braintree on Thursday, April 16, to improve to 5-1 on the year.