Coming off a 2021 run to the South-West Conference title game (won by Joel Barlow of Redding), Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse team is striving to get back to the pinnacle matchup — and, this time, win it all.

It will take not only continued strong play from experienced players but also a lot of hard work, as well as development of newcomers, to get there.

“We had an exercise about setting personal goals and team goals and the overwhelming consensus was to not only get to that championship game, but to win it,” Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said. “Overwhelmingly, the team goal was to win/take back the SWC championship and equally important to the girls was to have a cohesive team with great communication.

“It will be a challenge this year with SWC powerhouses New Fairfield, Barlow, and this year Masuk will have another talented team to look out for. Pomperaug will be strong, building from last year’s young team,” said Fletcher, adding that Weston can also be a tough opponent. “We are young, we will need freshman to fill a few starting spots but we have an athletic bunch and I am confident that we can get these girls to where they need to be to play at the varsity level.”

The Nighthawks will be led by senior captains Elena Sughrue, Isabelle Butler, and Gia Corso on the attacking end. Senior captain Erin Phaneuf is back this year from a torn ACL last season — she will be the midfield anchor and a spark to the Nighthawk offense this year, Fletcher anticipates. Shannon Kelleher, another captain, brings a ton of energy and anchors the defense for the nighthawks, the coach said.

“There is lots of young talent on the squad, including Juniors Allie Bradley and Bella Gerace as well as returning starters from last year, sophomores Jules Battaglia, Summer Harrell, and Alexa Manfredonia in the cage. We are happy with the progress thus far and just need some time to get some talented freshmen up to speed to balance out our lineup,” Fletcher said.

This year’s squad may a bit of a different feel than in past years.

“We are traditionally known in the conference as a very strong defensive team but this year we are top-heavy on the attacking end of the field. This does not mean in the slightest that we will not be strong defensively. We have some big shoes to fill from last year’s defensive graduates Emma Magazu, Shea Murphy, and Liv Buchler. We have young players that will be filling those spots and we just need a little time to get them up to speed,” Newtown’s coach said.

As a way to gear up for tough postseason action, Newtown will take on several tough nonconference foes and it all got started in the preseason with a scrimmage against perennial FCIAC and state powerhouse Wilton. In the regular slate, the Hawks have Conard, Glastonbury, Cheshire, and St Joseph of Trumbull awaiting. These are all top-ten state teams, Fletcher said.

“This challenging nonconference schedule gives us a leg up come conference championship week,” the coach added.

The Glastonbury contest will take place at Blue & Gold Stadium on Saturday, May 14, at noon, and is Newtown’s Light The Night Fundraiser/Pediatric Cancer Awareness game. During this game and the boys’ game versus Daniel Hand of Madison that follows at 3:30, lanterns will be sold for $5 so fans can light that night to support the cause.

The season gets underway Thursday, April 7, when SWC foe New Milford visits at 7 pm. The Hawks then play three straight on the road, beginning with a Saturday, April 2 visit to St. Joes at noon.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.