Eight Straight! — Hawk Girls Top New Fairfield, Win Yet Another Conference Lacrosse Title

By Andy Hutchison

They did it again. Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse team’s dominance in the South-West Conference, which includes an amazing unbeaten stretch dating back to 2006, continued with another championship.

The Nighthawks, the top seed in the SWC tourney, defeated No. 2 New Fairfield 18-13 for their eighth straight conference crown. They got to do it in front of the home crowd this time around as Blue & Gold Stadium hosted the girls’ and boys’ championships on May 25.

The Nighthawks got five goals from Meghan Brophy, and four goals apiece off the sticks of Kristie Vos Winkel and Erin Kenning. Meredith Bridges added a pair of goals and set up five others. Goaltender Celeste Cheung complied 16 saves and got help from strong defensive work by Kaitlin VosWinkel and company; Kaitlin Vos Winkel earned Most Valuable Player honors.

The game was a see-saw battle in the early going, with New Fairfield’s players seeing Newtown build the lead only to saw into the deficit time and time again. NHS never trailed in this game but the underdog Rebels got the game tied four times.

“We were nervous, but I feel like we’re always confident in ourselves,” Kaitlin VosWinkel said. “We don’t get down on ourselves.”

The score was even at eight apiece at halftime, leaving the championship up for grabs with a 25-minute half to play.

Eight was the number the Nighthawks had in mind as they looked to continue their string of championships. After seizing control early in the second half, to the tune of six straight goals for a 14-8 cushion with 11 minutes remaining, the fact that the Hawks nearly lost hold of a large lead in the semifinals was also on their minds and served as a reminder to keep playing hard to put the game away.

Newtown led Brookfield 9-3 with 18 minutes remaining in the May 23 semifinal and had to scratch and claw to a 10-9 victory to move on.

This time, Newtown didn’t allow its opponents make things as nerve-wracking, although the Rebels pulled to within 15-11 with a pair of goals just 12 seconds apart, with about six and half minutes remaining. The Nighthawks played stall ball for most of the final several minutes to chew up the clock and clinch the win.

“I think what happened to us against Brookfield was probably a good thing in the end because it prepared us more for today,” said Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher, adding that the coaching staff told the NHS players that they needed to play their guts out to ensure they would hang onto the big lead in the title game.

Cheung made an early-second half save to keep the game tied and Bridges set up Brophy for a 9-8 lead 1:45 out of the intermission. Bridges bounced home a free position shot less than two minutes later. With 18:40 to play, Tressa Scott, assisted by Bridges, made it 11-8. Cheung made another stop and Newtown got control and scored on its ensuing offensive sequence, as Kristie Vos Winkel netted her third of the game, assisted by Bridges, with 16:38 to play. It gave Newtown its biggest lead of the game at 12-8, and prompted a New Fairfield timeout.

NHS got control off the draw and proceeded to score 28 seconds later as Brophy again found the net, for a 13-8 cushion. Bridges raced around the goal to bury a shot for a 14-8 lead with 11:25 to play. The Rebels finally ended Newtown’s scoring run with a goal with 10:46 left, but Kenning responded with her third of the game 1:34 later.

After the Rebels got to within 15-11 inside of five minutes to play, Brophy scored in transition to get the momentum back on Newtown’s side.

Brophy said the key to the team pulling away in the second half was ball control on offense. “We really stepped it up in the second half,” she said. “We really had more patience on offense. We settled it up and didn’t force anything.”

Fletcher agreed that patience with the ball was key, and added that Kaitlin Vos Winkel’s tight defense on All State standout Morgan LaBarbera (held scoreless in the second half after tallying three times in the first half) was also a difference-maker.

The Nighthawks have gotten accustomed to dominating in the SWC, but faces change every season, and this year was substantially different than past teams for a couple of reasons. For one, this year’s version of the Nighthawks featured a mostly-new-to-the-starting-lineup attack line. What’s more, development in youth feeder programs in area towns is resulting in improving high school squads in the conference, Fletcher said. “They have more depth on their teams so we had rough games this year — in conference — which we hadn’t had in the past,” Fletcher added.

Fletcher said she told her players, leading up to the conference finale, that this was their year and not to dwell on the past success of the program or feel pressure from those winning ways.

Newtown’s season continues with state tournament action. The Nighthawks earned the Class L tourney’s No. 2 seed and were scheduled to host the Trumbull/Southington play-in game winner in the first round at home on Thursday (after The Bee went to press).