NHS Boys’ Lacrosse—

Rising To The Occasion — Hawks Winning Despite Tough Tests

By Andy Hutchison

After rolling over their first two opponents by a combined score of 40-3, Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team found itself involved in much more competitive games in the next three tilts. That didn’t stop the Nighthawks from continuing to win.

Newtown broke open a tie game against visiting New Milford in the second half, en route to a 15-7 win at Treadwell Park on April 14, then went on the road two days later and edged nonconference foe Conard 8-7 before pulling away to beat St Joseph of Trumbull 17-7 at Blue and Gold Stadium on April 18.

“Whether it’s 20-3 or 10-9, it’s a win to us and that’s what’s going to get us to the next level,” said Newtown Coach Glenn Adams, whose team carried a 5-0 mark into Thursday’s scheduled clash with Pomperaug of Southbury (after The Bee went to press).

Against New Milford, with the game tied 5-5 at halftime, Newtown established a slim 7-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter, then reeled off eight of the next nine goals in a sudden change of momentum that just kept snowballing in Newtown’s favor.

Part of the success stemmed from ball control off of the faceoffs. Although the draw numbers were pretty balanced overall, with Newtown winning 14 of 26, the Hawk got control of seven of ten in the final period. Cory Fisher and Brendan McNamara took the draws for the Hawks, not necessarily with the approach of trying to win the ball cleanly. “We’re confident that usually when we make it a 50-50 ball we’re going to come up with it,” said Adams, explaining that teammates have it in them to come in and battle for the loose ball when the draw men are tied up.

Newtown got three goals apiece from Lewis Thompson, Justin Brophy, and Will Northrop in the win.

Northrop attributed the late-game turnaround to the team members hustling more and playing a more controlled game. “We came out a little slow and we weren’t exactly playing our game,” Northrop said.

“We just came out a little slow in the first half. They were pressuring us and then we were trying to do things we don’t normally do on offense — trying to force the ball, not getting set before we run our offense,” said Adams, adding that in the second half, the Nighthawks set up their offense routinely and seized control.

“To know we can go against a team like that and prevail, it’s good — it’s key,” Brophy said.

Against Conard, Newtown built a 6-2 halftime lead and held off its opponent for the one-goal win behind two goals each from Thompson, Brophy, and Colby Summerlin. Trey Trudell had three assists in the win. Brandon Body made seven saves, and Summerlin and McNamara combined to scoop 13 of Newtown’s 50 ground balls.

Against St Joseph, runners-up in last year’s Class S state championship, Summerlin led the way with five goals, and Brophy had three goals and three assists, and Body made 12 saves.