NHS Girls’ Lacrosse Team Rolls To A Pair Of Wins To Start The Season

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse team outscored nonconference foe Cheshire 17-12 in the season opener, at Treadwell Park, on April 8. The Nighthawks followed up the win with a 20-5 drubbing of visiting Notre Dame-Fairfield the next day.

Meghan Bridges, back to 100 percent after coming back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury last spring, certainly played as if she was in top-notch form. She scored six goals, including a small handful on eight-meter shots after drawing violations on the Cheshire defenders by charging fearlessly into the goal area.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game. We just had to do whatever it took to stay ahead,” said Bridges, whose Hawks saw a 10-5 halftime lead get trimmed to 10-8 before the teams traded goals throughout most of the second half.

Lisa Vendel also scored six goals and Kaitlin Brophy added three tallies in the win. Newtown never relinquished the lead against a Cheshire team it beat by just a goal in last season’s matchup.

“It felt pretty good,” Vendel said of the win, “because last year it was so close.”

“I was really pleased with their passing today,” Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said following the Cheshire game. “I think it’s a really good start for us.”

The coach did see some areas in which she would like for her team to improve, including on defense.

“I’d like to play more aggressive defense on the ball,” Fletcher said.

The coach added that with talk about enforcement of helmets in girls’ lacrosse, the players — who don’t want to wear helmets — are not as aggressive as they should be because they don’t want to be whistled for fouls with the game being called more tightly.

“We’ve got to figure out a different way to defend the ball,” Fletcher said.

Against Notre Dame-Fairfield, Bridges and Meaghan Carney both had four goals. Katie Canavan, Erin Brown, Brophy, and Meredith Bridges all scored twice.

Vendel notes that the Nighthawks have a lot of players who bring different talents to the field, from offensive skills to defensive prowess and an ability to pressure the opposing team members, and that she expects this to be another strong campaign for the five-time defending South-West Conference champions.

Newtown, after Wednesday’s game at Bunnell in Stratford (after The Bee sports section went to press) returns home to Treadwell Park to face Brookfield on Friday, April 16 at 4 pm.