FAIRFIELD — It was on April 29 when Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team lost to Fairfield Warde by a final score of 10-6. At the time, early-season injuries to key players, among other circumstances, led to the Nighthawks being unable to finish the job, dropping them to 4-7 on the season. From there though, the team began to find its footing with the injury bug no longer biting, leading to a five-game win streak and finishing 9-7 for the regular season. Despite falling out of the South-West Conference Tournament with a loss to top-seeded Weston, which would go on and win the championship, the Nighthawks turned their attention to the Class L State Tournament as the 17th seed in the tournament.

Through all of the ups and downs, however, one thing that has never wavered was the energy and confidence the Nighthawks bring from the top to the bottom of their roster, which would be key with their rematch against the 16th-seeded Mustangs during the qualifying round of the tournament. Newtown defeated Warde 9-8 and advanced to a Wednesday, May 31, first round game at top seed Fairfield Prep at 5 pm.

“The one thing we talk about is bringing the juice and bringing that energy whether you’re on the field, you’re a number one guy … or a freshman on the bench, everyone’s bringing juice, everyone’s loud, everyone’s getting up for each other,” Newtown Assistant Coach Sean Wallace said. “You see those big goals and we have to keep half the team from running onto the field because they are so excited. The guys love each other, they got really good chemistry, the team’s just one big group.”

Newtown would set the tone early with goals in the first quarter by Sean Reilly and Marcus Gerace to go up 2-0, and did not relinquish the lead at any point during the game. Sam Steare answered a Warde goal and it was 3-1 at the half.

Warde scored early in the second half. Reilly answered, scoring his second goal of the contest not even a minute later. After trading goals three minutes later in the quarter, the Nighthawks had goals by Colby Harrell and Gerace to go up 6-3 entering the fourth. The theme of bouncing back and keeping the momentum rang true throughout the entirety of the game.

“I think it’s just a testament of the attitude of our guys,” said goaltender Reilly Nydell. “We’ve been down plenty in the season; we started our season with a losing record and we came back. It’s kind of just the story of our team, when we’re down, a lot of people count us out, but I think there is just no quit in this group, and I think it’s only getting stronger as the season progresses.”

Asher Williams added another for Newtown to begin the fourth before the Mustangs would add two of their own. From then on, it was Harrell’s game, scoring two goals of his own.

Harrell had a spectacular day with a hat-trick, two assists, and a groundball.

“I think it really just comes down to just feeding off of the morale of everyone around me,” he said. “When I came onto the bench, it was just this huge energy and mosh pit, everyone is so happy and I feel like that just gets me going, keeps the momentum going, just like that energy no matter what I’m doing is just gonna lift me up.”

Fairfield Warde tried to stage a late-game rally with three more goals in just under a three-minute span, but it would not be enough as the Nighthawks held on for the win.

Steare had two assists. Reilly put up two goals, with Gerace, Williams, Steare, and Kyle Ruddy each putting up a goal of their own. Fisher Stites led the team in groundballs, and Nydell picked up five saves in front of the net.

Mental mistakes were an area of focus for the Nighthawks as they looked to make a deep run in the tournament.

“I think a lot of it is just mental stuff,” said Wallace. “I think our guys know the game plan well, they know how to execute when they need to. Every now and then we have some lapses like any team, so guys need to be mentally aware a little bit more than they need to, dial in, clear the ball well, run our defense well, and we’ll be in a good spot to end the games.”

Owen Brown is a student at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Mass., and is doing an internship with The Bee.