Newtown High School's girls' lacrosse team scored early and often to defeat visiting Hall of West Hartford 17-7 in the Class L state tournament's first round, at Blue & Gold Stadium, on May 30.

Top-seeded Newtown earned a date with No. 8 New Canaan, also at Blue & Gold, on Thursday, June 1; game time is set for 5 pm. No. 17 Hall's season came to an end.

Julia Sughrue recorded her second consecutive seven-goal performance in a postseason game, repeating her feat from the team's South-West Conference championship game victory over Weston. Sughrue added a trio of assists in the win over Hall.

Sughrue got the scoring started, off an assist from Alex Futterman, just 1:18 into the contest, and Futterman, set up by Rylee Harrell made it 2-0 less than five minutes into the action as the Nighthawks set the tone from the get-go. Newtown led 8-2 at the half.

Futterman netted five goals and added three assists, Keeley Kortze and Dylan Zahansky both scored twice, and Kortze tacked on an assist, and Charli Condon added a goal and three helpers.

Nevan Gattey, Alison Kelleher, and Harrell all logged assists for the Nighthawks.

Futterman dominated the draw, and patience on the offensive end enabled the Nighthawks to break down Hall's zone defense, Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said.

Ground ball scoops and defensive rides by Kortze and Harrell helped the Hawks contain Hall.

Newtown may be the top seed, but the Hawks go into their second-round battle with their work cut out. New Canaan, last year's Class M champ which moved up to Class L this spring, ousted No. 9 Fairfield Warde, an FCIAC rival of New Canaan's which defeated Newtown during the regular season.

The Nighthawks went unbeaten in South-West Conference play this spring and earned their first conference title since 2014 when they capped a stretch of ten unanswered SWC title triumphs.