Hawk Laxmen Clinch Second Seed In Conference Tourney

By Andy Hutchison

MONROE — Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team won its third and fourth straight games this past week, toppling host Masuk of Monroe 15-7 on May 3 and getting past East Lyme 8-6 two days later to carry an 11-2 overall mark into Wednesday’s scheduled clash with Immaculate of Danbury (after The Bee sports section went to press).

With their win over Masuk, the Nighthawks secured the second seed and a first-round bye in the South-West Conference Division I Tournament. This is the first year the SWC is split into two divisions and the Nighthawks, being among the top division squads, will have their work cut out as they try to claim a second straight SWC crown.

Newtown certainly looked like one of the best in the SWC in jumping out to a 7-0 first-quarter lead en route to the win at Masuk on a cool, damp evening. Justin Brophy had four goals and two assists, Brendan McNamara had three goals and two assists, and Graham Derrickson also added three goals and contributed one assist. Dan Hebert scored twice and set up two other tallies. Goaltender Evan Isaacs made 11 saves in the win.

“Our goal has just been to try to get a little bit better each game and I think the past couple of games we haven’t gotten the total package in terms of what we want out of a game,” Newtown Coach Glenn Adams said after the Masuk game, which followed a 9-8 win over New Milford and an 8-7 loss to Glastonbury. “But we’ve made strides in little parts of the game and I think, hopefully, we’re putting those pieces together for the end of the season now and we’re trying to play some of our best lacrosse going into the end of the season.”

Newtown got past visiting East Lyme at Blue & Gold Stadium behind three goals by Hebert and two off the stick of Brophy. McNamara and Trey Trudell both added a goal and two assists, and Jake Ball scored once. Isaacs stopped ten shots to help Newtown to its sixth hard-fought win decided by one or two goals.

Newtown, following the Immaculate game, will take on a tough team from the FCIAC as Staples of Westport visits Blue & Gold for a 1 pm faceoff on Saturday, May 12. The regular season ends May 16 at Stratford, and then it’s on to the playoffs. The SWC tourney gets going May 21, meaning the Hawks will get an extra day of rest before playing in the second round on May 23, against an opponent to be determined, at New Fairfield High.

With a win, the Hawks would host the championship game since Blue & Gold has been designated to hold the finale this year. The SWC final will take place at 5 pm on Friday, May 25.