Going into the 2014 season, Walpole Boys Soccer knew that they had a lot of work to do. Last year’s team, who lost in the Division II State Championship to Masconomet, had 16 seniors who had to be replaced.

However, the Rebels had new players to fill the gaps left by the departing seniors. The team certainly stepped up, going 10-4-4 in the regular season, and losing in the South Sectional quarter-final to Hingham.

The season started tough, with Walpole playing #1 Needham in their 3rd game, but shockingly, Walpole led 2-1 for a stretch in the 2nd half. Although the game ended in a 4-2 loss, junior Captain Ian Fair said that the team learned “how to play as a team and play strong as a team.”

The team certainly came out strong after the loss to Needham, going 5-0-2 in their next 7 games, until things took a turn for the worse in their next matchup.

In the second half of a scoreless game against Weymouth, Fair was hit and suffered a fracture in his hip. At the time of the game, he was the Rebels’ leading scorer and defensive anchor. Even without Fair, Walpole kept the game tied until a Weymouth winner in the last minute.

After the Weymouth loss, Walpole went 3-2-1 to end the season and finished with a 10-4-4 record. They were given a #7 seed in the Division II tournament and drew Canton for the opener. The game went into PK’s, where Walpole won 5-4 after a big save from junior goalie Dillon Knight.

After the win, Walpole faced off against #15 Hingham. Hingham went up 2-0 early in the second half, but Walpole scored two late goals to tie the game with five minutes to play.

Even with everything going Walpole’s way, Hingham got an open run down the left side, and a close-range shot by a Hingham player deflected off of Knight and junior defenseman Nick Randall on its way into the net.

The goal proved to be a clincher for Hingham, who won the game 3-2, and eliminated Walpole.