By Kim J. Harmon

It was time to turn the tables.

Staples of Westport has always proven to be troublesome opponent for the Newtown High School boys’ lacrosse team – like a couple years ago, when the Wreckers bounced the Nighthawks from the CIAC Division II state tournament.

But last Friday it was Newtown that had a chance to be troublesome.

And for the ‘Hawks, who had fallen to Brien McMahon and Fairfield Prep the previous two games and were set to take on Fitch of Groton the following day, it was a win they just had to have to keep alive their shot at a CIAC Division II state tournament berth.

But Tom Ryan scored six goals and Casey Kirch added three more and the Nighthawks came away with an impressive, 13-11, win over a team has had share of its problems this season in the strong FCIAC conference.

“I think it’s a nice win,” said coach Brian Micena. “This team hasn’t beaten (Staples) in several years, so we’re pretty happy about that.”

And after a 14-10 loss to Fitch of Groton on Saturday and a 14-5 win over East Lyme on Monday, the Nighthawks boosted their record to 5-6 overall, 1-1 in the South-West Conference.

The game against Staples started out like many others have this year – with Newtown scoring first. The ‘Hawks need Shawn Gleason to make a big save, however, in the first two minutes of the game and then Matt Saunders was able to race down the field and find Ryan waiting to take a shot on the cage.

Staples came back, though, with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead. Kirch tied the score up a few moments later off a nice feed from Matt Sodor and then John Conlon put the ‘Hawks back on top, 3-2, off a feed from Saunders.

But Staples rallied – again – with two goals to take a 4-3 lead.

“I think once they got the confidence in them,” said coach Micena, “it made all the difference.”

And that came right around the end of the first quarter – right after Ryan scored his second goal off another assist from Saunders and even after the Wreckers scored with just three ticks left on the clock – when the Nighthawks’ energy seemed to pick up a step or two.

Ryan earned his first assist early in the second half, passing inside to Saunders for the senior co-captains’ first goal. After Gleason made another brilliant save on a point-blank shot, Kirch scored the go-ahead goal that followed a sequence where Saunders brought the ball down the field, passed to Ryan, who passed low to Conlon, who dropped a centering pass over the cage to Kirch.

It went back and forth from there, though, as the Wreckers tied up the score and the ‘Hawks took the lead again off another goal by Ryan. When Ryan hit the cage again off a pass from Kirch, the ‘Hawks had the first two-goal lead of the game.

It didn’t last. The Wreckers soon trimmed the lead to 8-7, but moments later goals by Conlon and Kirch (who survived a beating by the Wrecker defense) gave the ‘Hawks a 10-7 lead at the close of the first half.

The ‘Hawks extended their lead to 12-7 in the early stages of the third quarter on goals by Ryan and Saunders (off an assist from Pete Yemc). After the Wreckers scored, Ryan added his sixth goal of the game (off an assist from Kirch) to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 13-8.

From there, it was a matter of holding on. The Wreckers put up a strong assault on the cage in the last few moments of the third quarter and through most of the fourth quarter, but managed to score just three more times – the last one coming with just 4:24 to play.

Gleason finished the day with 14 saves. It was the start of a pretty good weekend for the netminder. Despite the 14-10 loss the ‘Hawks suffered to Fitch on Saturday, Gleason had a solid performance and came up with 24 saves.

“Gleason had a really good game,” said coach Micena. “He made all the saves we needed him to make.”

Matt Sullivan and Saunders scored three goals apiece in the loss while Ryan added a pair of his own.

On Monday, the ‘Hawks traveled to East Lyme and came back home with a 14-5 win. Kirch scored two goals and assisted on five others and Saunders had three goals and assisted on three others. Ryan had a pair of goals and two assists and Conlon added a pair of goals.

The offense has really been on the move.

“It’s all about catching, passing and moving the ball,” said coach Micena. “That’s all we have been working on.”

The ‘Hawks will need to keep the offense flowing on Friday when they travel to New Fairfield for a key SWC contest (which had been postponed from its original April 10 date). The Rebels are posting solid numbers this season and should prove to be a serious test for the ‘Hawks.

On Saturday, the ‘Hawks will be in New Milford and then on Monday will host Immaculate.