Goaltender Kyle Murphy stopped all 27 shots he faced as Newtown High School's hockey team shut out Joel Barlow of Redding 3-0 in the annual Warrior Cup game, at Danbury Ice Arena, on January 27. Newtown improved to 8-2 overall.

Proceeds from ticket sales, as well as donations from the Newtown hockey program's online fundraising efforts, go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Nighthawks wore special camouflage uniforms with Wounded Warrior Project patches and the words Integrity, Country, Service, Duty, Commitment, Honor, and Courage above the numbers on the backs, in place of last names.

The Nighthawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period of play and led 3-0 through two stanzas. Newtown hit multiple posts and crossbars and piled up 31 shots on goal.

Scott McLean opened the scoring on a goal assisted by David Brestovansky and Domenic Cartelli; and Cartelli, set up by McLean, netted the second tally of the night. The first two lamp-lighters came only 2:52 apart midway through the period. Cartelli added an unassisted goal early in the second.

Newtown Coach Paul Esposito noted that, in addition to the top line accumulating points on the scoreboard, many other Hawks contributed on the ice.

Freshman Adam Kliczewski stepped in and played well. Jetson Ku and Kyle Vitolo were strong on defense, Lucas O'Brien generated pressure on the Falcons, and Marc Carlson and Matthais Paltauf helped the penalty killing units keep a clean sheet, he said.

Murphy made some big saves to keep Newtown in front, then preserved the shutout with late-game stops, including a few on in-close chances.

"He had a great game," Esposito said of his netminder.

The Newtown coach said he is mostly happy with where his team stands, but adds that the Hawks won't get complacent and have some work to do.

Esposito wants to see his players do a better job of holding onto the puck and getting it deep when the time comes to do so, rather than lose it in the neutral zone.

"Turnovers are going to hurt us in a playoff game," the coach added.

Newtown is halfway through its slate and had plenty of time to build off its success and improve in areas that need work before the team goes after South-West Conference and state championships. The Hawks will tangle with Masuk of Monroe in Danbury, on Monday, January 30, beginning at 7:50 pm.