New-Look Nighthawk Field Hockey Team Picks Up Where It Left Off

By Andy Hutchison

New coach, new players … Same results.

That’s just fine with the Newtown High School field hockey team which, following a run to the conference and state championship games a year ago, began a rebuilding season of sorts with a pair of wins and a hard-fought tie this past week.

The Nighthawks opened the season with a 3-0 win over Weston on September 10, played to a 1-1 tie with New Milford (on the turf at Treadwell Park) on September 11 — both home games — and nipped Weston 1-0 in overtime on the road on Tuesday. NHS, because of rain postponing the opener with Weston by a day, was forced to play on consecutive days to begin the campaign — something first-year Head Coach Amanda Hadgraft could get used to.

“It’s an amazing way to start off the season,” said Hadgraft, who took over a team that fields eight first-time starting players. “I wish we would play a game every day because it’s so exciting to watch them.”

One reason for the early success (and excitement) is that Hadgraft — a 2004 NHS graduate — played for her predecessor, Kathy Davey, making the transition that much smoother than it might otherwise be.

An on-the-field key to the team’s winning ways carrying over has been the emergence of the newcomers, led by Hannah Koch’s efforts. The sophomore scored the first goal in the season-opening win and netted her team’s only tally in the tie with New Milford, one of the Nighthawks’ top South-West Conference rivals.

“It’s so exciting. It’s just a preview of how our season’s going to be,” Koch said with optimistic anticipation.

Senior captain Taylor Barry and Lisa Vendel added the other opening-day tallies in support of goaltender Jessica Balsano, who made four stops to earn the shutout.

Barry scored the OT game-winner at Weston (assisted by  Vendel) and Balsano had six saves. NHS drew 10 corners in the win.

Barry, one of the few returnees to the lineup, has been pleasantly surprised with how smooth the transition has been for a mostly revamped lineup of players who have not had much time to get accustomed to each other.

“At first I thought it would be a challenge, but we’ve really gotten to know each other better,” Barry said. “We’ve all got a lot of great chemistry.”

Versatility is a strong point for this team, Barry added.

Senior captain Linda Magliocco moved from the back line up to midfield and some of the offensive line players have rotated positions as deemed necessary by Hadgraft. “Everyone’s more than willing to do it for the team,” the coach said.

“I knew that they were more than capable of pulling out the type of play they’ve been showing,” Hadgraft added. “We do a good job of keeping it out of our circle, pushing it up field, and maintaining possession.”

This was particularly evident in the seven-on-seven 10-minute overtime against New Milford. The Hawks kept the ball on their opponents’ end of the field for much of the time but ended up having to fend off a late New Milford barrage of scoring chances (three penalty corners in the waning moments). The SWC rivals will have a chance to break the tie with a new game, a rematch October 20 at New Milford. Until then, the Hawks will focus on their upcoming games. They were scheduled to host Masuk Thursday, visit Bethel Tuesday and return home September 25 to face Joel Barlow (7 pm on the grass at Blue and Gold Stadium).