All things considered, it could be argued that Newtown High School's boys' lacrosse team has gotten the most it can out of its first four games of the slate. The Nighthawks, following Tuesday's 15-1 win over host Stratford, improved to 2-2 overall.

A pair of wins and a pair of losses. … or make that a pair of learning experiences for the mostly young squad. The Nighthawks, having graduated most of their starters among 17 seniors a year ago, as well as getting a new head coach, have gotten at least a little something out of their two defeats, which came to tough nonconference foes, Fairfield Prep of the Southern Connecticut Conference and Fairfield Ludlowe of the FCIAC.

First-year Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley believes these challenging games can serve as learning experiences for his team as the Hawks develop and try to contend for the playoffs later in the season.

Newtown, after falling 14-5 to perennial state powerhouse Prep and coming out on top in a game that could have gone either way - outscoring South-West Conference rival Brookfield 12-10 - dropped an 11-6 decision to host Ludlowe on a chilly April 9 afternoon.

Against Ludlowe, the Hawks trailed just 3-2 at halftime but saw the Falcons reel off seven unanswered third-quarter net-finders to all but put the game out of reach.

Newtown's possession issues on offense led to Ludlowe's transition opportunities and Bulkley said after the game that his team needs to cut down on the turnovers to be successful.

"A lot of it is mental mistakes - those are things we can fix," the coach said. "We have to do better, but we're learning."

Down 10-2 in the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks scored three straight goals, and four of the last five for a glimmer of hope in the final minutes before time ran out.

"They never give up. That's a great characteristic to have," Bulkley said.

Layton Harrell scored twice, and Matt Meyers, Jared Pearson, Tucker Garrity, and Peyton Manning all hit the back of the net for Newtown.

In the triumph over Stratford, Bulkley saw his team start to click and settle into its offense, he said. Mark Urso won 17 of 19 faceoffs, giving the Hawks a big possession advantage, and scored a goal. Meyers had five goals, Pearson scored three goals and added a pair of assists, Evan Eggleston had two goals and two assists, and Manning scored twice. Midfielders chipped in with Harrell and Colin McCafferty each scoring and Garrity contributing an assist. Dave Anderson was solid in cage with six saves.

"The boys have been working really hard and that hard work is really starting to pay off," Bulkley said.

Newtown will host nonconference foe Conard on Saturday, April 16, with the opening faceoff set for 2 pm. The Hawks visit SWC opponent Joel Barlow of Redding on Monday, April 18, beginning at 7 pm.