NEW MILFORD – The Newtown Vipers (U11) recently ventured into The Canterbury School field house in New Milford to compete in the Northwest U-12 Indoor District Tournament and – remarkably – came away with the second place trophy behind Newtown’s own U12 team.

After the four preliminary matches, the undefeated Vipers moved into the semi’s without giving up a single goal – but when matched up against the Newtown U12s in the finals, the Vipers gave all they had but could not deny the U12s’ offense.

The 2-0 loss to the U12s was a bittersweet finish for the Vipers, who were both proud of Newtown’s own U12s, but at the same time disappointed that they could not have been advancing to the state tournament against the other district U12 winners.

The six teams representing the Northwest District were placed in two divisions of three teams, which then faced off against each other for 26-minute preliminary matches. The Vipers’ division consisted of the Brookfield U12s and the Brookfield U11s.

The Vipers played both teams twice, outscoring their opponents 11-0. The scoring was highlighted in the third match, against the U11s, when Nick Kallivrousis netted three consecutive goals in the second half, helping the Vipers to clinch the division’s first place position and a spot in the semi-finals.

In the semi-final match, the Vipers competed against the Watertown U12s, who were the second place team from the other division. Newtown came out firing and scored in the fifth, sixth and ninth minutes of the first half.

The defense then took over and shut out the opposition for the remainder of the game in front of Alex Bowen, who minded the net for Newtown throughout the tournament. Bowen and the defense recorded their fifth shutout in five games and helped propel the Vipers into the final match.

The tournament roster for the U11s consisted of Paul Andras, Alex Bowen, Ethan Canfield, Kevin Davies, Mat DeBrantes, Anthony Florez, Max Hoagland, Nick Kallivrousis, Justin Miller, Chris Schreiber and Drew Taylor.

In the Oakwood Indoor U12 Division I Tournament last weekend, the Vipers and Bristol tangled in an early morning match and came away with a 4-4 tie.

The Vipers were anchored by the defensive cornerstornes of Mat DeBrantes, Kevin Davies and Michael Kennedy, who allowed just two first-half goals. Meanwhile, Anthony Florez scored three times and Aaron_Fay scored once for Newtown.

Max Hoagland and Nick Kallivrousis led the offense while Justin Miller and Aaron Fay teamed up to control the midfield action for the Vipers.

The Vipers were down 2-1 at the break, but scored three times in the second half.

Bristol had a late offensive onslaught that tested Viper goalie Alex Bowen, but Bowen met the challenge and held onto the tie for Newtown.