Boys lacrosse falls to North Andover in Players Cup

April 25th, 2025

• With the loss, their record drops to .500 for the first time this season. 

Boys lacrosse fell 16-11 to North Andover in the second game of the Players Cup on Thursday, April 24, for their second straight loss. 

Needham led by one at halftime but struggled to score in the second half, adding just one goal in the third quarter. Unable to get a stop, plagued by turnovers and scoring droughts, the Rockets found themselves down by five late in the fourth quarter and could not overcome the deficit. 

The Rockets came out quickly in the first quarter, as Cal Sullivan scored the game’s first goal less than 30 seconds in. But North Andover wasted no time, evening the score at one just a minute later. Needham jumped out to a 3-1 lead halfway through the first quarter with goals from Nick Sewall and Matt Ledbuy, but the Scarlet Knights tallied three unanswered goals to take a one-goal lead into the second quarter. 

North Andover opened the scoring in the second, taking a two-goal lead before Needham scored two quick goals to tie the game for the third time. The Rockets added two more goals, one from Ledbury and one from Charlie Cianciolo, to take a 7-5 lead with about eight minutes remaining in the half. Sullivan added his second goal of the game before the Scarlet Knights scored to make it a one-goal game yet again heading into halftime. 

Both teams struggled with sloppy passing throughout the game, which senior midfielder Reis Conway took advantage of to score the lone third-quarter goal for Needham, as he intercepted a pass between two Scarlet Knights and went straight to the net. North Andover scored four goals in the quarter to retake a two-goal lead. 

Needham put up two more goals in the fourth quarter but surrendered five to North Andover, falling too far behind to catch up.

After allowing three of Needham’s first four shots to find the net, the Scarlet Knights’ goalie settled in, recording 11 saves and slowing down the Rockets in the second half. 

The team will now travel to Duxbury on Saturday, April 26, where they will play Xaverian for seventh place in the tournament. 

Sports Anchor Mike Levin has the highlights from this game below:

The highlights above ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site.