Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team posted a pair of 1-0 victories this past week, blanking host New Milford on September 29 and going on the road for a win at New Fairfield on October 3.

It was very nearly three consecutive 1-0 wins. The Nighthawks entertained nonconference foe Suffield at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 1, and led throughout most of the second half before a buzzer-beating blast by Suffield resulted in a 1-1 tie.

In the win over New Milford Gjin Abazi assisted John Moxham’s goal. Against New Fairfield Abazi assisted Johnny Celli’s tally.

“Defense of line played fantastic in both games — great team wins on both occasions,” Coach Ryan Lyddy said.

Newtown broke a scoreless tie with Suffield just 1:58 into the second half. Luke Kellerman headed home Alex Braholli’s line-drive cross to the back post, from the right corner. Gabe Petertonjes and Cal Lucas moved the ball forward to set up the play. Braholli ran all the way to the end line near the corner flag before a perfect cross left Kellerman with a mostly-empty net.

The Nighthawks threatened to add to the lead with Lucas and Connor Muir working to create chances. Braholli’s head flick on a boot into the 18-yard box by Petertonjes set up Muir for a chance that was denied.

On the defensive end, goalkeeper Yarema Stasyshyn made thee diving saves and Connor Dullinger broke up a play to help keep Newtown ahead. Lucas, Moxham, Nicholas Psichopaidas, Curtis Verdi, Petertonjes, Luke Kellerman, Adam Dissa, Abazi, and Brady Lavelle all worked hard in the midfield and in the back to fend off Suffield’s dangerous attacks, featuring some solid kicks in the air into the box.

As the game went on and time began to work in Newtown’s favor, Suffield pushed numbers forward and, with the additional manpower up front, pressured Newtown’s defense heavily — especially in the final ten or so minutes of the game. A cross led to a corner kick as the clock ticked down. Suffield finally cashed in when Nick VanCott blasted in a bouncer off the corner kick. The ball appeared to hit the back of the net just after the scoreboard read all zeros, but it crossed the goal line in the air before the buzzer, making it count.

A tough tie for Newtown given the Nighthawks led for so long, but Lyddy was okay with the outcome, especially given the strength of the opponent. Newtown carried a record of 6-1-2 into Thursday’s home game with Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport; Suffield improved to 7-1-1 with victory over Northwest Catholic on October 3. Both teams have one common opponent, Weston. Suffield fell 1-0 to Weston and NHS scored late in regulation to pull out a 3-2 win over Weston.

“It just shows that we have to clean everything up. That’s a good team,” Lyddy said of the outcome against Suffield, adding that facing this sort of tough competition helps prepare his team for the postseason.

Lyddy was pleased with his team’s effort in the second half after a bit of a slow start. “We cleaned it up a little bit in the second half and made it a game,” the coach said.

Each game provides a learning experience regardless of outcome.

“We beat a tough Weston team 3-2 so we know how that feels. We tied Barlow 3-3 after being behind 3-1 so we know how that feels. Now we need to learn how to close out a game when we’re up 1-0,” Lyddy said. “The kids played hard. They played well.”

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