Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team has a young team following the graduation of 13 seniors. But the talent is there for title contention only two years and a lot of roster turnover removed from the program’s South-West Conference North Division title, Coach Ryan Lyddy believes.

“Three goals we have are winning the division, SWC conference, and making a deep run into the state tourney with the ultimate goal of getting into the finals,” Lyddy said.

Whether or not the Nighthawks achieve all or some of those aspirations, will not define the team’s overall success, the coach says.

“We don’t lose. We learn. I think that’s important,” Lyddy explained. “They want to learn. They want to play. They work hard for each other.”

The Hawks, of course, will strive to win every game and look to use each loss as an opportunity to grow with the end goal to put it all together in the form of a championship run. A strength of the team, Lyddy said, is that the players have been exposed to a positive environment in terms of cohesion and winning success, including that conference championship two seasons ago.

Captains are midfielders Alex Braholli, Calvin Lucas, and Adam Dissa, along with defenders John Moxham and Connor Dullinger.

Other key cogs in the lineup are midfielders Luke Kellerman and Connor Muir as well as defenders Kyle Ruddy and Gjin Abazi. Goalkeeper Yarema Stasyshyn is back between the posts.

Anticipated challenges within the conference are expected to come from the likes of Joel Barlow of Redding and Bethel, among others, Lyddy said. Naugatuck and Suffield are nonconference opponents on the slate. A tough preseason schedule that featured scrimmages with FCIAC schools Fairfield Ludlowe, Trumbull, and Norwalk, was set up in an effort to get the team as ready for game action as possible.

It all gets going Tuesday, September 13, when SWC foe Brookfield travels to Treadwell Park for a 4 pm clash.

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