By Kim J. Harmon

While one team shows it is not as invincible as it once was and another shows it is still mighty good even when it can’t help sleepwalking through a game, a third exclaims – “Hey, we have arrived!”

Yes, these are the days of our lives –

w There is the boys’ soccer team, which was dealt a 1-0 loss by Pomperaug on Tuesday night – the Nighthawks’ first regular season loss in over three years.

w There is the girls’ soccer team that – with modest wins over Notre Dame (3-0) and Foran (3-1) and a somewhat lackluster win over Pomperaug (4-0) on Tuesday – pushed its record to 6-0-1 with only a few challenges (albeit serious ones) left on the schedule.

w But then there is the girls’ swim team, which rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final three events and, in an electrifying finish, defeated perennial South-West Conference powerhouse Lauralton Hall, 95-91, to remain undefeated at 6-0.

Yes, these are the days of our lives –

Dramatic Finish In

The Pool

Did you feel that? There may have been a shift in the power structure of the South-West Conference.

Lauralton Hall has long been the powerhouse of the SWC and no matter how strong a team Newtown High School was able to put on the deck, the one at Lauralton Hall was always better.

But not now.

Rallying from an eight-point deficit in the final three events, the Lady Nighthawks stunned the Lady Crusaders – and themselves, to be honest – in a 95-91 victory. The ‘Hawks needed a 1-3 finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay to accomplish the feat.

“I think we all thought it could happen,” said Amy Robinson, who finished third in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. “It was somewhere between being a dream and reality, but we really wanted to win this.”

Sophomore Abby Atkinson put together the most stunning performance of the meet, winning the 100-yard breaststroke by just 78/100ths of a second and then coming right back to anchor the winning 400-yard free relay team.

“There was not a lot left (in the tank),” said Atkinson. “I was really nervous. I knew the girl anchoring their relay was really fast and I could see her gaining on me. I’m glad my relay gave me such a big lead.”

It became apparent within the first 100 yards of the final relay that the ‘Hawks would get the necessary third-place finish. But the far more critical first-place finish was iffy – until Atkinson hit the water with about a 10-yard lead, thanks to the efforts of Sally Tabler, Maggie Hemingway and Liz Gugino.

The ‘Hawks may have been tired, but there was too much riding on the finish.

“Oh … we were ready to go,” said Robinson.

Head coach Mary Atkinson was without four or five key swimmers, which should have really hurt the depth of the team because while Atkinson was a double winner, Tierney Carey (diving) and Carol Ann Smith (100 backstroke) were the only other individual winners.

Depth still came through. Seven second-place finishes and eight third-place finishes made the difference.

The ‘Hawks were in a 10-4 hole after the opening relay, their B relay having been disqualified. The ‘Hawks gained no ground in the 200 free, but in the 200 individual medley Atkinson finished first, Sally Tabler finished third and Smith finished fourth to tie the score at 23-23.

Hall seemed to take command of the meet, though, with a 1-2-4 finish in the 50-yard freestyle that gave the visitors an eight-point lead. But the ‘Hawks gained all of that back – and then some – when Carey, Wendy Borst and Lauren Borusso swept diving (Carey qualifying for the CIAC state meet in the process).

In the next four events, Hall slowly built up its eight-point lead.

But then the rally started. A huge 1-2 finish by Smith and Maricate Conlon in the 100-yard backstroke allowed the ‘Hawks to take a six-point bump and pull to within two of Lauralton Hall.

And soon enough, the Nighthawks had one of their finest wins ever.

The ‘Hawks will visit Weston on Friday (that’s a 4 pm start) and will host Jonathan Law next Tuesday (also a 4 pm start). Pomperaug will visit on Friday, October 10, for Senior Night (that’s a 7 pm start).

Another Stunner – A

Loss For Boys Soccer

 

A 1-0 loss to Pomperaug on Tuesday night might be stunning in its own right, but factor in the thought that the last time the boys’ soccer team had lost a regular season contest was way back on October 10, 2000, and it gets downright shocking.

That was also a 1-0 loss … to Bethel.

On Tuesday night, Dave Eddy of Pomperaug scored in the 29th minute of the first half off an assist from Nate Dunbar and the goal stood up the rest of the way. Newtown managed 12 shots on goal, but could not get one by goaltender Pat Randolph.

The loss dropped the Nighthawks (ranked third in the New Haven Register poll) to 5-1-1.

Coach Neumeyer had been a bit concerned about the offense (and for good reason, it appears) but last week there were few concerns as the ‘Hawks pummeled both Foran (6-0) and Notre Dame of Fairfield (7-1).

In the win over Notre Dame, Marcus Tracy scored four times and Rodrigo DeSouza scored twice to power the offense. Matt McFadden also scored while Brian Miles, Marc Doherty, McFadden, Ben Trigal and Tracy provided the assists.

The ‘Hawks were scheduled to host Jonathan Law on Thursday and will host Weston on Saturday, 12 noon, at Treadwell Park. They will visit New Fairfield next Tuesday and then return home on Thursday for a game against Bunnell.

Another Title In Store

For Girls X-C?

 

Head coach Marsha Caine is starting to sense the possibility – the possibility that the girls’ cross country team could enjoy another South-West Conference championship – but she is not ready to step out on a limb.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ve been beaten at Invitationals and in the conference meets it’s been real close.”

The Lady Nighthawks pushed their record to 11-1 with a sweep of New Fairfield (23-34), Notre Dame (15-47) and Brookfield (15-50). Couple that with a sweep of Masuk (22-39), Foran (19-42) and Weston (15-50) and the ‘Hawks are on a real roll with just one regular season meet (next Tuesday, against Bunnell, Pomperaug and Bethel) to go before the October 16 SWC championships.

On Tuesday, the ‘Hawks took four of the top five slots to capture the meet – with Carolyn Brennan (16:53) taking second, Sadie Ball (17:25) taking third, Laura Reid (17:56) taking third and Moira Collier (18:13) taking fifth.

Four in a row – coach Caine likes that pack mentality.

“We’re trying to work on running together,” she said, “and keeping the pack together.”

Caitlin Thursland came in ninth at 18:36 while Emelye Neff finished 10th at 18:46. Other Newtown finishers in the top 20 included Caitlin Weber (13th, 18:52), Leah Herity (14th, 18:53), Kelly Collier (17th, 19:09), and Ellen Reid (19th, 19:28).

Last week, at Eisenhower Park in Milford, the efforts of Brennan (second, 16:31), Ball (third, 16:49) and Reid (fourth, 17:27) provided the main boost but key back-end points were scored by Moira Collier (eighth, 18:05), Herity (ninth, 18:14) and Thursland (10th, 18:14).

Other Newtown finishers in the top 25 included Kelly Collier (11th, 18:23), Weber (12th, 18:38), Neff (16th, 18:48), Amy Busko (19th, 19:06), Elizabeth Ericson (20th, 19:40), Jessica Divanno (21st, 19:44) and Quincey Blanchard (25th, 20:15).

Not So Dominating,

But Still Unbeaten

Head coach Rupert de los Reyes may have been a little irked that his girls’ soccer team was sleepwalking a little bit through its 4-0 win over Pomperaug on Tuesday, but even with a somewhat lackluster effort the Lady Nighthawks remained unbeaten at 6-0-1.

April Scheuerell, Becky Corrigan, Carrie Lipnick and Stacy Shpunt all scored in the win while Alex Konneker dealt a pair of assists. Goaltender Kim Allen made nine saves to nail down the shutout.

On Monday, the ‘Hawks received a little bit of a shock when Foran took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal from Amy Orzechanski. A perfectly placed throw-in found Orzechanski’s foot right in front of the net.

But the ‘Hawks rallied back. Tara Gaston, Chelsea Morin and Konneker scored consecutive goals to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 3-1, by halftime and that was all the cushion they would need.

Gaston scored off a rebound right in front of the net while Morin ripped a shot off from the top of the penalty box. Later on, Gaston – from the top of the box – somehow snuck a pass through a crowd to Konneker for the final goal.

Mary Anders had another strong game on defense and helped give Allen (three saves) an easy afternoon.

Last week, the ‘Hawks blanked Notre Dame, 3-0. Morin, Lipnick and Konneker scored the goals while Anders and Casey Frobey provided the assists. The Lady Lancers did put 17 shots on net, but Allen made all the necessary stops.

The undefeated ‘Hawks traveled to Jonathan Law on Thursday (after press time) and will host Weston on Saturday, at 10 am at Treadwell Park, for their fourth game of the week. They will host New Fairfield on Tuesday and visit archrival Bunnell on Friday, October 10.

Domination Continues

For Boys X-C

 

Dominating? Grabbing five of the top six slots in a meet – yeah, that’s pretty dominating. It’s also what the boys’ cross country team did on Tuesday afternoon while sweeping Brookfield (15-47), New Fairfield (19-44), and Notre Dame (15-49) to run its record to 10-1.

Pete Dittmar was first overall at 17:46 and after Ben Chitester of New Fairfield came in second just two seconds off the pace, the Nighthawks rolled right in – Alister Ratcliff coming in third at 18:03, Phil Zencey coming in fourth at 18:12, Jay Schunter coming in fifth at 18:23, and Charlie Baldour coming in sixth at 18:31.

Chris DeRoo also finished in the top 10, grabbing eighth place at 18:31.

Jake Sullivan (11th, 19:11), Doug Bonjour (12th, 19:14), Jon Larsen (13th, 19:17), Jeff Lipnick (14th, 19:19), Eric MacKnight (17th, 19:33), Ryan Kraft (18th, 19:33) and Matt Cole (20th, 19:46) rounded out the top 20 for Newtown.

It was the second time in seven days that the ‘Hawks breezed through a meet. Last Wednesday at Eisenhower Park in Milford, the ‘Hawks swept Foran (19-41), Masuk (19-49) and Weston (15-47). Dittmar was first overall at 17:33 and was followed in by Schunter (fourth, 17:51), Ratcliff (fifth, 17:52), Zencey (sixth, 17:59), DeRoo (seventh, 18:08), Baldour (10th, 18:35), Larsen (13th, 18:59), Bonjour (14th, 19:03) and Cole (15th, 19:06).

The ‘Hawks will be at the Wickham Park Invitational in Manchester on Saturday and will host Bunnell, Pomperaug and Bethel on Tuesday in the final regular season meet. The South-West Conference championship meet will be held Thursday, October 16, at Bethel.

Football Team Takes

Step In Right Direction

 

All the ball had to do was bounce into the end zone and maybe – just maybe – things would have turned out differently.

A brilliant second-quarter punt by Brookfield (which was sitting on a 6-0 lead at the time) not only pinned Newtown against its own goal line, but also allowed the Bobcats the opportunity to pad their lead.

They did that by first tackling Ben Bagaglio in the end zone for a safety to push the lead to 8-0. With the safety, the Nighthawks had to kick away and the Bobcats took the ball and put together a short drive that ended when Patrick Bernardez scored on a 31-yard run.

The ‘Cats then led, 15-0.

That was just enough cushion.

The ‘Hawks have been lackluster on offense all season, but in the second half showed some spark. Quarterback John Collins hit Marc Ingerman on a 10-yard scoring strike in the third quarter to cut the Brookfield lead to 15-8 (Collins passed to Bagaglio for the two-point conversion). Then Collins found Ingerman again in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard scoring strike to cut the Brookfield lead to 15-14.

A two-point conversion pass failed, however. Although the ‘Hawks continued to drive against the ‘Cats, they were unable to get closer than the 34. The ‘Cats salted the game away on a three-yard touchdown run by John Hayduk (who set himself up with an 80-yard run two plays before).

“I have to say, the kids really played hard in the second half,” said head coach Ken Roberts. “We couldn’t catch a break, though. Take away that punt (in the second quarter) and I think it’s a different game.”

The ‘Hawks did a little better on the ground, gaining 164 total yards with Bagaglio rushing for 69 yards on 13 carries. Bobby Pattison rushed for 58 yards on 11 carries and Collins rushed for 22 yards on nine carries.

Collins was also 4-for-12 for 45 yards and two TDs. Ingerman caught three balls for 36 of those yards.

Newtown (0-3 overall, 0-1 in the Patriot Division) will host a strong Bunnell team on Friday – which is Homecoming Night.

Eleven Shots, No

Goals

 

The field hockey team dominated the game and had nothing to show for it except a tie.

The Lady Nighthawks out-shot the Lady Falcons of Joel Barlow, 11-1, and held an 8-3 advantage in penalty corners, but the game went through two regulation halves and an overtime period and ended in an unresolved 0-0 draw.

With the tie, the ‘Hawks went to 1-3-2 on the year.

It was a real easy time in the cage for goaltender Jenny Urfer, who did not have to make a single save.

There was quite a bit more excitement – and scoring – last week when the ‘Hawks traveled to Brookfield. Although the locals scored twice, the Lady Bobcats scored four times to secure a 4-2 win. The game was in a 1-1 tie at the half, but the ‘Cats exploded for three second-half goals to remain undefeated in the South-West Conference.

Meg Regnery scored both goals for the ‘Hawks, who were out-shot 25-5. Urfer was forced to make 20 saves to keep the ‘Hawks close.

The ‘Hawks were scheduled to travel to Weston on Thursday and will host Immaculate on Tuesday afternoon at Treadwell Park. A game with Bethel, under the lights at Blue & Gold Stadium, will follow on Thursday.

The ‘Hawks will also host non-conference rival Haddam-Killingworth on Saturday, October 11, at 3 pm, at Treadwell.

A Couple Wins

For Net Girls

 

The volleyball team may be irked by the unusual 3-1 loss to Weston suffered last Thursday, but at least it was sandwiched by wins over Joel Barlow (3-0) and Brookfield (3-0) that pushed the Lady Nighthawks’ record to 3-6 on the year.

In the 27-25, 25-15, 25-22 sweep of Barlow last Wednesday, Stephanie Logan had 11 kills, six aces and three blocks while Diana Grimaldi had five kills and two aces. Lisa Morgan had a pair of aces and recorded 18 assists.

In the 25-12, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of Brookfield on Monday, Grimaldi had eight kills, two blocks and three aces while Morgan had three aces and recorded 14 assists. Logan contributed six kills and five aces.

But those two rather dominating performances were bookends to a disappointing 18-25, 19=25, 25-14, 19-25 loss to Weston last Thursday. The ‘Hawks seemingly had no answer for Katie Galvin and Molly Anderson, who combined for 17 kills and 21 digs. Logan nailed down 15 kills and blocked three balls while Paula Wickman had six kills. Morgan contributed four aces and 19 assists.

The ‘Hawks hosted New Fairfield on Wednesday and will host Notre Dame on Friday. Visits to New Milford (Tuesday), Bunnell (Wednesday), and Kolbe-Cathedral (Friday) will follow next week.