Hawks Skate Into Playoffs With Momentum, Health On Their Side

By Andy Hutchison

DANBURY — Newtown High School’s hockey team entered into the postseason with plenty of confidence and momentum coming off three straight wins; and, perhaps equally if not more importantly, with the entire lineup healthy.

Newtown was scheduled to begin South-West Conference Division II-III Tournament action on Thursday night (after The Bee went to press). A win in the four-team tourney semifinals was to determine whether or not the Nighthawks would challenge for the conference crown on Saturday, March 3.

The Nighthawks are the No. 4 seed and were scheduled to open up against No. 1 Watertown-Pomperaug.

The Nighthawks capped off the regular campaign with back-to-back 10-1 wins over the New Fairfield-Immaculate of Danbury team — both at Danbury Ice Arena, winning with ease on February 25 and matching the result two days later.  Newtown had beaten Lyman Hall 3-1 on February 22, and carries a 12-8 overall record into the postseason, which continues with the Division II state playoffs, beginning in early March.

Paul Esposito, coach of the Nighthawks, said he was pleased with the way his team jumped out on New Fairfield early — scoring four goals in the first period in the Saturday game, and five in the opening 15 minutes in the rematch.

“They had a good offensive punch. The message was, ‘we need to go out here and skate like it’s a playoff game.’ We have to come in with that mentality because it’s going to be a tough road once we start up on Thursday,” Esposito said.

Indeed, the competition stood to be much tougher when the puck dropped to begin conference tourney play. The other teams in the playoff mix, including No. 2 Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury (BBD), and No. 3 New Milford, all challenged NHS this season. The Hawks lost to and later defeated New Milford, and fell to BBD in overtime — the third OT loss to the rivals in the past few seasons. Interestingly, Newtown had its most success against the best of the four, Watertown-Pomperaug, in a 4-1 early on in the campaign.

“We may have caught them on an off day but they took care of us last year in the first round of SWCs,” Esposito said of why he considers the top team in the bracket to be as dangerous as its seeding indicates.

No question, the competition stands to be tough, but the Hawks will be up to the task to at least be a threat in both the conference and state tourneys, Esposito promises. The Nighthawks have battled injuries and various bugs that have sidelined players on and off during the course of the campaign.

“I think our chances are good right now. We’re at 100 percent healthy,” Esposito said after the regular-season ending win.

In the finale against New Fairfield-Immaculate, Christian Blais scored three times; Jake Solomons and Zach Waller both scored twice; and Brett Klein, Hayden Savoia, and Chris Erikson all lit the lamp.

In the first 10-1 win over New Fairfield-Immaculate, Blais led the way with four net-finders. Six other Hawks scored a goal apiece: Ted Benoit, Justin Corsello, Erikson, Conner Hanley, Jack Martin, and Sabia.

Blais was the top scorer in the win over Lyman Hall too. He scored twice, and Solomons added a goal. Benoit had two assists and goaltender Mike Allwein made 22 saves in that 3-1 victory.

Esposito likes that he has been able to run third and fourth lines, exposing the up-and-coming players to more game action, all the while giving the top line skaters a breather during the stretch run. The coach is optimistic some of those younger players will play key roles, along with the top players, in the postseason.

This is Newtown’s first year at the D-II level after playing as a D-III program in past years. The D-II playoffs get underway next week.