Nighthawk Laxmen Come A Long Way, Fall In State Quarterfinals To Fairfield Prep

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team saw its season come to an end in a 12-2 loss to Fairfield Prep in the quarterfinal round of the Class L State Tournament, at home, on Tuesday evening. No. 5 Prep, the two-time defending state champs, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back against No. 4 Newtown. The Nighthawks had a better seeding because of a slightly better overall record.

As hard as it was to get knocked out of the tourney, the members of the Nighthawk team can take pride in the fact they got to the second round.

Newtown’s 13-9 win over Norwalk in the first round, at home on Saturday, marked the first state tourney win for the program in a while.

“We hadn’t won a state game in about five years. It’s a great group we’ve got here,” senior Collin Babbage said. “It’s been a memorable season. It’s great to be a part of.”

Saturday’s win was the program’s first state playoff triumph since 2003 when, under the old divisional format, the Nighthawks won their first round game before falling in the quarterfinals.

Senior Zack Varga remembers, as an eighth-grader and NHS lacrosse player hopeful, watching the Nighthawks in the state playoffs the following season, in 2004, as a D-II qualifier (that was the last time a Hawks’ team qualified for the state tourney).

“We knew we were going to get there,” Varga said. “We knew we would be successful if we stuck together. We came a long way this season.”

In addition to Babbage and Varga, seniors Kevin McManus, Brett Maurao, Will Mahony, Max Beitel, Conor Martin, and Brendan Martin capped their high school careers — which had plenty of bumps along the way — in style.

Injuries took their toll on last year’s squad, making this season a success on a number of levels. In addition to staying healthy, the Hawks performed at a high level, winning 13 regular season games and three more playoff contests, including two in the South-West Conference Tournament.

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” Brendan Martin said. “We all have fun when we play. We work together as a team.”

“Our program took some big steps this year and our next step is getting past games like this,” NHS coach Brian Micena said after the loss to Prep.

“It’s tough right now. It’s emotional when it happens that fast,” Micena said of being eliminated. The coach added that, with time, he and the players will be able to step back and reflect on the season’s success.

“We’ll lose some key guys that really were leaders,” Micena said of his seniors. “But next year we definitely are excited about the kids we have coming back.”

Among the many strong players who are expected to return next year are juniors Kevin Canavan and Christian Beitel, each of whom registered four goals in the playoff win over Norwalk.