In the end, a win is a win. But some victories are more fulfilling than others. Take, for example, the Newtown High School field hockey team’s 4-1 triumph at South-West Conference rival Masuk of Monroe under the lights on September 20.

“I think today we finished. We had struggled finishing in the circle and playing a solid second half — and today we did both of those,” Coach Megan Goyda said.

The Nighthawks did most of their scoring damage in the first half with Brooke Bulkley, Ellenoire Schoen, and Summer Harrell hitting the back of the cage for a 3-0 cushion at the break. It remained 3-0 heading into the fourth quarter. Francesca Glazer capped the Newtown scoring midway through the final quarter when she banged home a loose ball during a scramble in the goal mouth. Harrell, who also assisted another tally, was in on the play as the Nighthawks fought feverishly for ball. Annika Bozentko and Schoen also had assists in the win.

Masuk finally broke up the shutout with 2:06 left. The Panthers cashed in off a rare penalty corner opportunity; both teams had just four such chances in the contest.

Newtown’s play in the midfield was its best defense and sparked the offense with players routinely creating takeaways before the Panthers could get set up on their offensive end of the field.

“We did a good job of stepping to ball,” Goyda said. “We were able to get possession and utilize the give and go.”

Glazer did a good job of controlling the ball and dodging defenders, and Schoen and Harrell did their usual strong work in moving the ball through the opposing defense, Goyda noted.

Defensively, the Nighthawks were strong when called upon. Jenna Lagan and Harrell both prevented balls from getting into the cage with stellar play in the back.

Goaltender Riley Alesevich continues to get better and better, Goyda said.

“She’s really taking control of the circle, which is really nice,” the coach added.

Alesevich did a good job coming out from the goal to pressure Masuk’s offensive players and break up the play before it had a chance to develop into a scoring chance.

Newtown had a strong passing game and the feet were constantly moving as they threatened to create opportunities throughout the night.

As much as the Hawks got high marks from their coach, basically across the board, Goyda recognized some areas in which the team can continue to improve.

“I think we play fast, but sometimes frenetic, and I think that being able to use our speed but under control is going to help them maintain possession for longer periods of time,” Goyda said.

The Nighthawks improved to 4-2 overall with a 1-0 win over nonconference foe Branford, at NHS, on September 23. Although Branford had eight penalty corners to Newtown’s four, it was the Nighthawks who struck on a corner in the first half. Mo Murphy inserted to Schoen whose shot generated a rebound. Harrell pounced on the loose ball and slammed home the goal.

Goyda said Newtown seemed to control most of the field with Jules Battaglia continually disrupting Branford’s longball style of play. Bulkley came up with a defensive save behind Alesevich who made six saves for the shutout.

The Hawks still have a lot of season remaining, with eight conference tilts plus a possible makeup with Massachusetts team Longmeadow.

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