Girls’ Soccer Team Blanks New Milford And Joel Barlow
Newtown High School’s girls soccer team made it seven consecutive games without surrendering a goal with a 3-0 win over New Milford on September 25 and 1-0 blanking of Joel Barlow of Redding on September 30 — both at Blue & Gold Stadium.
Against New Milford, the Nighthawks dominated possession and peppered the Green Wave goal with shots — they could easily have had a few or even a handful more if not for some strong New Milford goalkeeping that limited the damage.
“It was an impressive display of passing as well as an improvement from our previous game in terms of shots on target, and we were probably unfortunate not to have scored more goals, but it was a dominant win and an important confidence-builder as we begin to play some more difficult teams,” Newtown Coach Adam Bourret said.
The balls that did find the net came on some pretty plays/shots. First, Addie O’Leary buried a shot into the top left corner off a 30-yard free kick strike with 27:42 to play in the opening half. O’Leary clanked from off the far post on a 25-yard blast from the left side. Then a series of passes culminated with a beautiful setup for Summer Chaljub’s tally moments after entering the game to make it 2-0 about 4:30 after the first goal.
Sadie Singlak sent a pass ahead to Lyla Kopp, who centered from the left side where Chaljub picked up her first varsity goal. Chaljub scored again, in the second half, off a ball played to her in the middle by Delia Stango.
The Nighthawks continue to get strong play from their back line, although it was largely the offense and midfielders maintaining possession that kept the Green Wave from establishing many chances in this matchup.
Against Barlow it was a back and forth game — each team had multiple opportunities. Stango scored 16 minutes into the first half. She received the ball from Chaljub, then beat multiple defenders and scored on a perfectly placed ball.
Goalkeeper Elise Ansman recorded another clean sheet; Grace Newsom started against Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport during this seven-game shutout stretch. The back line — Maddy Gioiele, Addie Kopp, Sara Ruddy, and Taylor LeRow — had a bend but don’t break mentality, helping the Hawks hang another zero.
Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.