Girls’ Lacrosse Team Pulls Away From Barlow, Edges Wilton; Boys Bounce Back From First Loss With Two Victories

Erin Kenning and Meredith Bridges, six and five goals respectively, combined to match host Joel Barlow of Redding’s goal total, and five other Nighthawks found the back of the net to help Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse team to an 18-11 win on April 19.

Julia Trudell and Kristie VosWinkel both scored twice, and Meaghan Brophy, Caroline Kingsley, and Carley Ferris also scored as the Hawks won their second straight game and improved to 4-2 overall.

Newtown led just 7-6 at the half. Strong defense and draw wins by Cassie Ekstrom spurred the offense, Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said, and the Hawks tallied six unanswered goals to begin the second half. Celeste Celeste Cheung made seven saves in goal.

Newtown narrowly defeated Barlow twice last year, including a 17-16 thriller in the South-West Conference championship game.

The Nighthawks went to Wilton to visit an unbeaten FCIAC team on Tuesday, and prevailed with a 9-7 win to improve to 5-2. Kenning and Brophy kept up their high-scoring ways with three goals apiece, and Trudell, Bridges, and Kingsley all had a goal. Cheung made nine saves.

Boys Battle

Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team, on April 19, suffered its first loss of the campaign in a 17-4 setback at South-West Conference rival Joel Barlow of Redding. The Nighthawks, however, bounced back with wins over West Springfield, Mass. on April 21 and St. Joseph of Trumbull on Monday. Newtown improved to 7-1 overall heading into Thursday’s clash with Brookfield (after The Bee went to press).

In the loss to Barlow, Newtown allowed 11 third-quarter goals as host Falcons broke open a close game. Jake Ball had two goals, and Cory Fisher and Brendan McNamara had a goal each for the Nighthawks.

Against West Springfield, at Blue & Gold Stadium, the Nighthawks earned a 15-7 win behind four goals from Dan Hebert and three from Tom Bauer. Fisher, McNamara, and Justin Brophy all added two net-finders in the triumph.

In another out-of-conference tilt, the Nighthawks edged host St. Joes 9-7. Hebert had another four-goal effort, and Graham Derrickson added two goals. Trey Trudell had a goal and four assists.

The Nighthawks, following the Brookfield game, are slated to have three straight road games — at Glastonbury on Saturday, April 28, at New Milford on May 1, and at Masuk of Monroe on May 3. NHS returns home for the first of four straight contests to close out the regular campaign when East Lyme visits Blue & Gold on May 5.