Fletcher Hopes Opener Is An Indication Of Things To Come

By Andy Hutchison

If the way the season started is any indication of what’s ahead, watch out for the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team to keep getting better and better.

The Nighthawks shook off a bit of, by their standards anyway, a shaky start to pull away for a convincing win, blowing out New Milford 20-9 in the season opener at Treadwell Park on April 5. Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher, who predicted in the preseason that her somewhat new-look team might need a little time to gel, hopes the way the opening day contest unfolded will carry over into the long campaign with the Hawks peaking at the end.

If the Nighthawks can get better and better as the season unfolds, and peak in the playoffs, just as they improved in the second half of the first game, the team stands to at least be significant contenders — if not favorites — for yet another South-West Conference championship. The Nighthawks, having won the SWC title seven years in a row, enter into the campaign with those familiar team-to-dethrone targets on their backs, but Fletcher knows it’s a new season, somewhat new group of girls, and that there is a lot of lacrosse to be played before the Hawks have to prove themselves again in the postseason.

Newtown’s season-opening opponent wasn’t exactly an easy one. New Milford, which trailed by only a few goals early in the second half, is among the believed to be better squads in the SWC and is coming off a 10-5-1 campaign. The game was in doubt before NHS started really clicking and reeled off seven straight goals to pull away. The net-finders came with more frequency because of, ironically enough, patience on the part of the Hawk attack players.

“We just needed to slow it down on offense,” said Meredith Bridges, who led the way with five goals. “We were more patient and it definitely showed.”

Julia Trudell tallied four goals, and Erin Kenning, Meaghan Brophy, and Tressa Scott added two apiece for a Newtown offense that may not miss a beat despite the 2011 graduation of its standout offensive weapon, Kaitlin Brophy. Riley Wurtz, Cassie Ekstrom, and Caroline Kingsley all scooped four of the team’s 26 ground ball pickups.

“They definitely played much better in the second half than they played in the first half. I really wasn’t pleased with the offense or defense in the first half — more so with the offense. I just felt like we were really messy, just really, really not being patient at all with the ball,” said Fletcher, adding that passes were dropped because players were looking ahead to what they were going to do next before focusing on first getting possession. “So we made some adjustments. We made some adjustments at halftime and they played much better in the second half.”

The Nighthawks continued their season with their first road matchup, at Brookfield on Tuesday, and won 18-8. Kenning and Bridges both had four goals, and Trudell and Brophy each had three. Ekstrom had three of the team’s eight interceptions, and Wurtz and Brophy both came up with four takeaways.

Goaltender Celeste Cheung stopped 18 shots.