Sports

Girls' Lacrosse Defeated In Quick-Turnaround Rematch

By Andy Hutchison

Published: May 29, 2026 6:50 am

MONROE — Just one week after wrapping up the regular season with an 8-6 win over visiting Masuk of Monroe, Newtown High School's girls' lacrosse team was back on the field with the Panthers, this time on the road in the South-West Conference Tournament semifinals on May 21. In the rematch, it was No 2 Masuk coming out on top, 12-6 over the No 3 Nighthawks.

Newtown fell behind 6-0 — a fast Masuk start made possible by some adjustments on offense, Panther Coach Rob Troesser said — but was resilient as the Nighthawks battled back, cutting into an 8-3 halftime deficit to trail just 8-6 going to the fourth. The Panthers had four yellow cards and were down a player for the second half, but withstood a strong third quarter by the Hawks and pulled away in the fourth with solid shorthanded defense.

Blake Heim-Sherwood scored with 10:31 to play in the third to make it 8-4, and NHS goaltender Emily Sachs made some key stops to keep the Nighthawks within reach. Gabby O'Sullivan's free position shot goal made it 8-5 with 3:34 to play in the quarter and Natalie McLean's spin move and shot with 2:26 to go before the fourth capped the Nighthawk scoring. The Nighthawk momentum stopped there; Masuk scored twice early in the fourth to regain control, and added a goal late, and the Panthers moved on. They went on to defeat top seed New Fairfield 10-9 in the title game on May 26.

"They fought very hard. I'm really proud," said Newtown Coach Stephanie Suhoza, adding that the early deficit was the biggest difference. "They forced turnovers trying to make up the ground."

Natalie McLean had two goals and six draw controls, Heim-Sherwood had a trio of draw controls to go along with her net-finder, O'Sullivan scored twice, and Sara Ruddy found the net.

The Nighthawks will look to bounce back in the Class L State Tournament. Masuk and Newtown are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. Newtown will host No. 11 Bristol Eastern Tuesday, June 2 at 5 pm.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.

Sara Ruddy gains control of the ball off the draw during Newtown’s 12-6 loss at Masuk in the SWC semifinals on May 21. —Bee Photos, Hutchison

Gabby O’Sullivan, left, and Blake Heim-Sherwood go for the loose ball.

Peyton Merrifield gains possession for the Hawks.

Natalie McLean races upfield to set up a scoring chance.

Nicki Kaplan passes as Natalie McLean looks on.

Kayla Locke runs upfield with the ball.

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That may have been true in 1995-2008 when every new unit of housing had 1.5 kids, but with an aging population and declining birth rates, our demographics have stabilized and our enrolment has been decreasing for 20 years while population has remained relatively flat at 28k. Less people in the homes. Not all households use the same amount of services as 2/3rds of our budget is for education. For example, Senior housing uses very little services relative to the taxes they pay, and we recognize that with a Senior Tax Credit to keep them here. It is the same for one bedroom units. Age diversity distributes the costs of education, and housing diversity supports age diversity, allowing young people to live in town and seniors to downsize (freeing up their colonials for new families.) Newtown and R-2 zoning pushes a type of building geared towards families with kids, but 4,000 sq ft 4 br homes with big lawns to mow are not what young people or empty nesters are looking for or can justify at those phases of their lives. There is also a commercial aspect as CT business associations routinely support housing so their employees can afford to live close to their jobs. Commercial tax payers need employees, be it manufacturing, medical, retail, services or our restaurants. Without a workforce, commercial property is less desirable, the commercial assessments decline and more of the tax burden gets shifted onto residential at revaluation. Housing supports the school district too. Where can a bus driver afford to live in Newtown? Why would a bus driver commute to our community to drive a bus when the municipalities they can afford to live in also need bus drivers? Newtown schools would have to pay more to incentivize them to commute further (increasing traffic on the highways.) Its no wonder we have had a chronic a bus driver shortage.

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It may seem like a foreign concept to a partisan political insider, but many in Newtown feel Mitch won by a larger margin because of his years of community focused constituent service, helping local families and businesses navigate state bureaucracy during COVID, and successfully advancing legislation, especially for seniors and our special education families.

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Sad to see that Mrs. Pesce has passed. She was my teacher at Sandy Hook School Grade 4 1964-65. I believe it was her first year teaching, We shared the same birthday. She was my “favorite” teacher. May she RIP.

Judith Pesce

Thanks for your opinion Chris. Unfortunately, it sounds like Mr. Moore's solution for our local budget woes is to pump Hartford for handouts while the party with our taxpayer dollars is still raging. How long is that party expected to last? As a citizen who pays taxes to both the town of Newtown and the state of Connecticut it feels like the solution being sold is to simply take the funds from my OTHER pocket now that the first one has run dry. Newtown, like the state of Connecticut, is really only going to help with our affordability crisis by ending business-unfriendly practices, and focus on attracting businesses that generate good paying careers and a solid commercial tax base. Hoping that the party never ends in Hartford is not a plan, it's a pipe dream.

Endorses Moore

Hey Dave - everyone has a right to their opinion - mine is that the role of State Rep has evolved in the past few years and needs to be filled by someone who is not only concerned with Newtown’s local issues like open space, (and to be fair most of us “civilians” didn’t attend meetings about 6 commerce - doesn’t mean we are “anti open space”.) and being a conduit for State Funding ( tho it’s interesting Brandon was the first we ever heard call out Mitch for not getting Newtown our fair share of state funds) the 2026 version of a State Rep needs to do more than this. If elected, Brandon Moore will be working with local officials like Michelle Ku,(and the many others who have endorsed his campaign in Newtown, on Newtown specific issues) but equally important, he will be the defense we need against Fed action that threatens our way of life like the Fed action to strip women of their rights, or the lack of Fed action on things like AI regulation. Brandon will be the advocate for children’s mental health resources, and so much more. He has repeated these priorities in public forums and I hope those who are voting will take a moment to do their research. In Hartford, Brandon will work with the like minded next generation of State Reps that have this same mindset. They are not only taking care of their constituents at home they are taking action to preserve our way of life in Ct and creating blueprints for other states to follow. My opinion- Brandon’s priorities and values are exactly what Newtown and Connecticut need in this moment.

Endorses Embree Ku

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Girls' Lacrosse Defeated In Quick-Turnaround Rematch

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