Working overtime has been routine for the Newtown High School field hockey team of late. The Nighthawks went to OT in two straight contests, and three of the last four — all defensive-minded battles.

The Nighthawks played visiting Bethel to a scoreless tie at Treadwell Park on September 30. Newtown fell 1-0 to host Pomperaug of Southbury in overtime on October 3. Newtown, in its previous two games, fell 1-0 to New Milford at Blue & Gold Stadium on September 28 after settling for a scoreless tie with New Milford on September 23.

The rematch with New Milford could have gone either way, much like the first clash. Newtown Coach John Savage said his team needed to work on making diagonal passes to move the ball across the field into the circle rather than taking the play into the corner. Abby Ihlefeld intercepted several passes and clears, and Alison Powers created turnovers as Newtown kept the pressure on in an effort to tie New Milford in the second half.

“Bethel had 11 senior starters with very good stick skills. Our defense stood strong the whole game. (Goaltender) Riley Alesevich had six saves and had a couple of good clears to get the ball out of our circle,” Savage said. “During the overtime we had four corners and got three very good opportunities to score but couldn’t put one in. Defense did not let Bethel get a shot on goal during overtime.”

The team played well enough to win and actually created three or four good scoring opportunities. Defense played well and kept us in the game,” Savage said of the Pomperaug game. “The team is steadfast in their resolve to play better each game and should reap the rewards of their hard work.”

Newtown hosts Weston, at Blue & Gold, on Friday, October 7 at 5:30 pm.

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