Nighthawk Lacrosse Teams Begin Title Defense

Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams, both South-West Conference champions a year ago, were scheduled to begin their conference title defense with the start of the SWC Division I playoffs on Wednesday (after The Bee sports section went to press. Check www.NewtownBee.com for playoff updates).

The second-seeded boys’ team was scheduled to take on Weston in semifinal round action in New Fairfield, and the top-seeded girls were slated to battle Brookfield in Southbury.

The championships, regardless of which teams advance, are set to be held at Newtown High’s Blue & Gold Stadium — the girls at 5 pm followed by the boys at 7 — on Friday, May 25.

In their regular-season competition, the Newtown boys earned a hard-fought 8-7 win over Weston — one of four one-goal games in which the Nighthawks were involved.

The boys also had several lopsided wins and outscored opponents 185-107 overall this spring.

The NHS girls beat Brookfield 18-8 in the second game of the campaign; the seven-time SWC champion Hawks have not lost a game to a conference opponent dating back to 2006.

Both of the NHS squads capped off the regular campaign with lopsided wins. The boys dominated Stratford 19-3 in the season finale on May 16, to end the year with a 13-3 overall record (8-1 in SWC play).

Newtown got eight goals in each of the first two quarters en route to a 16-0 halftime lead. Justin Spath, Matt Vavrek, and Tom Bauer all scored three times. Brendan McNamara scooped a team-best nine ground balls, and goaltenders Evan Isaacs and Jon Rospenda combined to make nine saves.

In their last game, on May 17, the girls toppled Masuk of Monroe 17-7 to end with a record of 14-2 (10-0 in the conference).

Newtown led 13-3 at the half. Erin Kenning had five goals, Meaghan Brophy netted five shots and added a trio of assists, and Meredith Bridges scored three times. Julia Trudell had five ground balls and five takeaways.

The girls, ranked 19th in the nation and third in the state,  outscored teams 248-151 this season.

Win or lose in SWC tourney play, the season will continue for both teams in state tournament action.

Seedings are to be announced at www.casciac.org on Friday, May 25.

The boys, at the conclusion of the regular season, were ranked second in Class L behind Simsbury, and the girls were seeded second behind Cheshire in the Class L bracket.