The Needham girls’ lacrosse team won 15 straight games to begin the season, defeating a number of strong teams, but had yet to face Notre Dame of Hingham or Westwood, the state’s standard-bearers of recent years.
Beth O’Brien’s squad approached Saturday’s matchup against top-ranked Notre Dame as just another home game on the schedule. Employing that strategy — in addition to an 8-1 run to start the second half — the No. 3 Rockets beat the Cougars, 16-11, extending their winning streak to 16.
“We sign a shirt every game, representing that it’s just the next game,’’ said O’Brien. “We prepared for it knowing what they would bring to the table, but our kids are extremely focused on taking it one game at a time.’’
Leading, 5-3, at halftime, the Rockets raised their game to another level to begin the second half. Needham scored eight of the first nine goals coming out of halftime to take a 13-4 lead with 10:43 remaining in regulation. Sarah Conley scored four of her team-high five goals in that sequence, in which five Needham players tallied.
“We knew it would get even tougher in the second half,’’ said O’Brien. “We had to come out and put some balls in the net to withstand what we knew would happen at different parts of the game.’’
Neeedham’s lead came in handy in the game’s final 10 minutes, as the Cougars (12-3) rallied, scoring six straight goals to make it 13-10. Freshman Madison Ahern got the run started with her third goal of the game, before senior Charlotte Allard took over, scoring five of her game-high six goals to get Notre Dame back into the game.
The three-goal deficit was as close as the Cougars would get, as Needham got goals from Caroline Walsh, Conley, and Kailey Conry to put the game away.
“We talked about staying composed and no matter how much we get down, or how much we get up, [the game] just doesn’t stop,’’ said O’Brien. “The kids were able to keep their head on.’’
“That’s such an important part of a game like this, the emotional side of it.’’
Wellesley 16, Dover-Sherborn 11 — Sophomore Caitlin Chicoski netted seven goals while senior Sophie Vernon added three goals and four assists to propel Wellesley (9-4).
Bishop Fenwick 17, Archbishop Williams 8 — Senior Merry Harrington had six goals and two assists for the Crusaders.
Haverhill 15, Malden 0 — Senior Liz Brady netted four goals and dished out two assists to lead the home Hillies (10-5).
St. Mark’s 10, Milton Academy 8 — Senior cocaptain Tess D’Orsi accounted for 8 of the Lions’ goals, and added an assist in the win.
Boys’ lacrosse
Walpole 15, King Philip 8 — Junior midfielder Owen Hunter paced the Rebels (11-3) with five goals.
Newton North 15, Weston 10 — Hunter Adam netted seven goals and had an assist while his brother, Bryce, added four goals and four assists to propel the Tigers (12-2).
Shrewsbury 12, Sharon 7 — Colin Michael had six goals and an assist and Matt Ward scored four goals and had two assists as the visiting Colonials (6-9) rallied from a 5-4 halftime deficit to earn the win.
Bancroft 12, Concord Academy 4 — Steve Roche had four goals and five assists, and Luke Alley had a hat trick and assist to power the host Bulldogs (6-3).
St. John’s Prep 11, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 8 — Andrew Cox had a hat trick and Drew Kozub and Jake O’Donnell both scored twice, but the host Pioneers (10-4) fell to the Eagles (3-10), who scored five times in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Baseball
Blue Hills 5, Southeastern 4 — Matt Rupp had two RBIs and Mike Nosky got the win.
Rockland 15, Hull 2 — Junior Mike McPeck pitched a two-hitter, while senior shortstop Tyler Murphy led the offense with two hits and three RBIs.
Belmont Hill 3, Rivers 1 — Freshman Evan Sleight tripled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning for the win.
Weymouth 4, Hingham 0 — Senior Bryan Umano pitched a shutout for the Wildcats (3-12).
Chelmsford 6, Methuen 4 — Derek Adamson hit a walkoff two-run home run for the Lions (8-6).
Nobles 7, St. Paul’s 0 — Junior Philip Barnett tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the Bulldogs (5-5).
Swampscott 1, Masconomet 0 — Sophomore Luke Marshall allowed only five hits in six scoreless innings for the Big Blue (11-4).
Roxbury Latin 3, Lawrence Academy 0 — Junior pitcher Joe Lomuscio struck out five and allowed just two hits in a complete-game effort.
Softball
Reading 10, North Reading 1 — Junior Stephanie Ghostlaw was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs to pace the Rockets (9-5).
Plymouth North 13, Quincy 0 — Senior Ali Petrelli had three hits to lead the Blue Eagles.
Case 13, New Bedford 1 — Senior Madison Carpenter went 3 for 3 with four RBIs to lead the Cardinals (12-2).
Bridgewater-Raynham 14, Brockton 0 — Lexi Silva went 4 for 4 with five RBIs and Natalie Sorrenti pitched a one-hitter to boost the Trojans (12-1).
Bishop Stang 20, Apponequet 0 — Junior Lauren Jackson (4-1) tossed a two-hitter and fanned nine to lead the Spartans (9-3). Freshmen Sierra Majewski went 4 for 5 with two RBIs.
Whitinsville Christian 3, Shawsheen 1 — Hanna Vander Baan scattered four hits and went 2 for 2 to lift the visiting Crusaders (6-6) over the Rams (5-8) in Billerica.
More highlights on bostonglobe.com/schools.
