By Kim J. Harmon

The New Milford High School field hockey team may still be undefeated and still the top team in the South-West Conference, but it has been tied twice – by Newtown.

Another epic struggle between two of the top teams in the SWC transpired on Tuesday night at Blue & Gold Stadium and after 70 minutes of action – the last 10 of those frantic and thrilling – the two teams once again failed to come to a conclusion.

Another 0-0 tie.

Newtown and New Milford have met six times over the last two seasons and the Lady Nighthawks are right there … though they did not register a win over the Green Wave in any of those games.

“As long as we keep our heads and our hearts in the game,” said co-captain Nicole Alberico following another grueling game with their arch-rivals, “we can definitely beat them.”

While the Green Wave may have had the better of the play, arguably, in the past five meetings it was clear that the ‘Hawks were in firm control on Tuesday.

The locals allowed just two shots on the night … and it was the second one, with 1:17 left in overtime, that could have decided the whole thing. A shot from the top of the circle was deflected at the point of the hit and ball sailed high. Newtown goaltender Lisa Isabella scrambled over and got a piece of the ball, deflecting it up where it slammed off the top of the cage and back into the circle.

A violation on New Milford a moment later allowed the ‘Hawks to clear the ball.

And dodge the bullet.

Though the ‘Hawks did not claim the win (though moving to an impressive 6-1-2 on the year), it was a stellar performance.

“We passed a paper around school,” said Alberico, “and each girl had to write down a goal for this game. When we were stretching before the game we read it and it got us motivated.”

The Newtown defense did not allow a shot in the first half and didn’t give up the first penalty corner opportunity until there was 7:22 left to play. The Wave had a 7-4 advantage on corners and three of them came in overtime, when the battle was reduced to 7-versus-7.

Still, that did not intimidate the ‘Hawks.

“No way,” said Alberico. “We play our game all the way through.”

Alberico had a goal and an assist, as did Hannah Tenenbaum, last week when Newtown drubbed Immaculate, 4-0, for their sixth win of the season. Stephanie Paproski and Renee Solheim added goals and co-captain Courtney Gleason provided an assist.

Isabella recorded the shutout and with the shutout of New Milford on Tuesday, she has six on the season – all the while, allowing only four goals.

The locals will be in Monroe on Friday to face Masuk and will be in Southbury on Tuesday to face their other arch-rival, Pomperaug. They will return home next Thursday to host Joel Barlow at 3:45 pm at Treadwell Park.

Newtown 4, Immaculate 0

GOALS: Newtown – Hannah Tenenbaum, Nicole Alberico, Stephanie Paproski, Renee Solheim. ASSISTS: Newtown – Hannah Tenenbaum, Nicole Alberico, Courtney Gleason.

Newtown 0, New Milford 0

SHOTS: Newtown – 9; New Milford – 2. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 1; New Milford – Cassie Novicky – 5. PENALTY CORNERS: Newtown – 4; New Milford – 7.

LAYER                     G       A       PT

Tina Sanchez           3        0         3

Stephanie Paproski  2        0         2

Nicole Alberico        3        3         6

Renee Solheim         0        1         1

Jackie Isabella         1        0         1

Hannah Tenenbaum 1        2         3

Taylor Barry             1        0         1

Courtney Gleason    1        1         2

Linda Magliocco      0        1         1

TOTALS                  12        8       20

 

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Newtown 24, Joel Barlow 31

When was the last time there was a cross country meet with just two schools on the track?

These days, it is more common to see three or four schools on the course at the same time but on Tuesday afternoon it was only the Newtown and Joel Barlow High School boys’ cross country teams traversing the 3.1-mile course at Fairfield Hills in the regular season finale.

And it was the Nighthawks coming away with the 24-31 win to finish 10-3 overall.

Mike Levene of Joel Barlow was the top finisher at 16:51, but the next three runners to cross the line were all in Newtown garb – Kevin Hoyt (17:13), David Meyer (17:50) and Alex DiNoto (18:05). Jordan Reed (7th – 18:18) and Tucker Grose (8th – 18:38) rounded out the scoring for the ‘Hawks, who will be competing in the South-West Conference championships next Thursday in Bethel.

On Tuesday, Jon Zigman (11th – 19:08), Adam Schankman (13th – 19:20), Ian Mason (14th – 19:25), Austin Baldour (15th – 19:37), Brendan O’Connell (16th – 19:56), Kyle McCarthy (17th – 19:59), Erik Hoffman (19th – 20:04) and Peter Manos-Young (20th – 20:12) all ran well.

The ‘Hawks also ran well last Saturday at the Wickham Park Invitational.

In the boys’ seeded race (the championships were canceled due to heat), the locals finished eighth.

Hoyt finished third overall at 17:49, just 13 seconds behind Taylor Phillips of Brookfield and two seconds behind Eric Demmons of Wolcott. Meyer (33rd – 18:53), Reed (60th – 19:26), DiNoto (62nd – 19:30) and Zigman (154th – 20:43) all ran well.

Not figuring into the scoring was Adam Schankman (166th – 20:53) and Grose (171st – 20:58).

Newtown 24, Barlow 31

INDIVIDUALS: 1. Mike Levene (JB) 16:51; 2. Kevin Hoyt (N) 17:13; 3. David Meyer (N) 17:50; 4. Alex DiNoto (N) 18:05; 5. Connor Robey (JB) 18:11; 6. Charlie Goldburg (JB) 18:18; 7. Jordan Reed (N) 18:18; 8. Tucker Grose (N) 18:38; 9. Andrew Horvath (JB) 18:56; 10. Morgan Pinter (JB) 19:03; 11. Jon Zigman (N) 19:08; 12. Connor Staufer (JB) 19:13; 13. Adam Shankman (N) 19:20; 14. Ian Mason (N) 19:25; 15. Austin Baldour (N) 19:37; 16. Brendan O’Connell (N) 19:56; 17. Kyle McCarthy (N) 19:59; 18. Chris Moyer (JB) 20:04; 19. Erik Hoffman (N) 20:04; 20. Peter Manos-Young (N) 20:12. COURSE: 3.1 miles at Fairfield Hills.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Newtown 16, Joel Barlow 46

Newtown 16, Lauralton Hall 47

It has been clear for a few weeks now, but the Newtown High School girls’ cross country team emphasized the point on Tuesday afternoon.

It is the best – by far – in the South-West Conference.

In the final regular season meet of 2007, at Fairfield Hills, the first four runners to cross the finish line all wore Newtown uniforms. Heck, six of the first eight runners to cross the finish line all wore Newtown uniforms.

It was a dominating performance and with a 16-46 win over Joel Barlow and 16-47 win over Lauralton Hall, the Lady Nighthawks have concluded the regular schedule undefeated at 13-0. And coming up next Thursday, in Bethel, the ‘Hawks will aim to win their incredible sixth consecutive South-West Conference title.

On Tuesday, Elise DeRoo – like she has done all season – led the pack, finishing at 15:17. Then came Jen Brill at 16:26, Sara Pollock at 17:04 and Anne Martino at 17:22 before another runner not dressed in Newtown blue and gold crossed the finish line.

And after Kate Doyle of Hall and Holly Ray of Joel Barlow broke things up, Christie Attanasio and Emily Weber of Newtown came in seventh and eighth at 17:37 and 17:46, respectively.

Weber did not figure into the scoring, nor did Carolyn Gingras (10th – 17:53), Erin Nemeth (11th – 18:06), Natalie Villa (13th – 18:16), Scarlett O’Sullivan (16th – 18:43), Keegan Frobey (17th – 18:53), Charlotte Manos (18th – 18:53), Andie Maret (19th – 19:09) or Jacqui Kirol (20th – 19:20), who help flood the top 20 with 14 Newtown runners.

Since their first SWC title in 2002, the ‘Hawks have compiled an 82-4 record while winning 49 decisions in a row. Head coach Doug Russell, who took over in 2004, has seen his team drop only one regular season decision – by one point to New Milford in ’04.

Now, while this team is senior-laden, there is a strong group of runners ready to move up and it showed at the Wickham Park Invitational on Saturday in Manchester. Even though the championship races were not canceled due to the heat, the locals competed in the middle school, freshman and jayvee races.

In the Middle School race, eighth-grader Erin Begg – representing the Newtown Parks and Recreation Department – finished 21st overall at 12:46 over a 3k track. Fourth-grader Molly Begg finished 128th and sixth-grader Nicole Malia finished 178th. On the boys side, fourth-grader Ethan Burg finished 157th.

As for the freshman race, Newtown had a great finish by Martino, who came in fourth overall at 18:25. Katie O’Dell (28th), Kaitlyn Kakadeles (32nd), Megan Gonzalez (75th), Maggie O’Donohue (79th) and Anna Oggeri (116th) all ran well.

In the junior varsity/seeded championship race, Villa finished sixth overall at 19:26 while Maret (25th), O’Sullivan (26th), Frobey (52nd), Jill Kressin (98th), Christine Beck (154th), Kelley Anne Carney (214th), Ashley Liefels (232nd), Bonnie Lundblad (243rd) and Erin Fish (255th) all ran well.

Newtown 16, Barlow 46; Newtown 16, Lauralton Hall 47

INDIVIDUALS: 1. Elise DeRoo (N) 15:17; 2. Jen Brill (N) 16:26; 3. Sara Pollock (N) 17:04; 4. Anne Martino (N) 17:22; 5. Kate Doyle (LH) 17:32; 6. Holly Ray (B) 17:35; 7. Christie Attanasio (N) 17:37; 8. Emily Weber (N) 17:46; 9. Emma Kiefer (B) 17:49; 10. Carolyn Gingras (N) 17:53; 11. Erin Nemeth (N) 18:06; 12. Chelsea Troxell (B) 18:13; 13. Natalie Villa (N) 18:16; 14. Caroline O’Connor (LH) 18:25; 15. Zoe Wheeler (B) 18:40; 16. Scarlett O’Sullivan (N) 18:43; 17. Keegan Frobey (N) 18:53; 18. Charlotte Maros (N) 18:53; 19. Andie Maret (N) 19:09; 20. Jacqui Kirol (N) 19:20.

FOOTBALL

Stratford 40, Newtown 21

Slick, elusive, dangerous.

Octavias McKoy and Torrey Mack were all that and much more last Friday night, combining for five touchdowns as the Stratford High School football team avenged a one-point, overtime loss a year ago and handed Newtown its first defeat of the season, 40-21.

McKoy and Mack have been heralded as future Division I football backs, but the Nighthawks bottled them up pretty well on the ground. Stratford quarterback Justin Shumyhora, though, had a great day, hitting 13-of-22 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns.

The ‘Hawks jumped out early, thanks to a 67-yard return on the opening kick by Bob Lapple. A few of runs by Jamie Goodwick and a 17-yard pass from Jake DeVellis to Brendan Martin put the locals on the one, where DeVellis snuck in for the touchdown.

But on the second play of Newtown’s second drive – after Stratford went three and out – DeVellis was drilled on a run through the line and suffered a concussion that not only knocked him out of the game, but will keep him out of the game this Friday against Brookfield.

In stepped Charlie LoBosco, who had decent success with touchdown passes to Lapple and Brian Reszoly. After DeVellis scored the first touchdown, the Red Devils scored the next three – McKoy catching two passes from Shumyhora and Stenson Jean-Baptiste catching one – but Lapple pulled the locals to within one touchdown as time expired in the second quarter when he gathered in a tipped pass from LoBosco and rambled 52 yards for the score.

Stratford scored once in the third and again in the fourth to take a 40-14 lead, but the ‘Hawks closed things out when LoBosco hit Reszoly with a 16-yard touchdown pass with a little over three minutes left to play.

The ‘Hawks are banged out and without DeVellis, Tyler Tarantino and Tim Wheeler will attempt to rediscover their winnings ways on Friday against Brookfield.

Stratford        7   14      7    12    - 40

Newtown      7     7      0      7    - 21

FIRST QUARTER: Newtown – DeVellis 1 run (Noonan kick); Stratford – McKoy 75 pass from Shumyhora (Everman kick). SECOND QUARTER: Stratford – McKoy 8 pass from Shumyhora (kick failed); Stratford – Stenson Jean-Baptiste 40 pass from Shumyhora (two-point coversion); Newtown – Lapple 52 pass from LoBosco (Noonan kick). THIRD QUARTER: Stratford – McKoy 16 run (Everman kick). FOURTH QUARTER: Stratford – McKoy 16 run (Everman kick); Stratford – Mack 54 interception return (kick failed); Newtown – Reszoly 16 pass from LoBosco (Noonan kick).

GIRLS SOCCER

Newtown 7. Stratford 1

Newtown 5, Immaculate 1

The big game was Tuesday, October 2, when the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team defeated Masuk, 3-2.

Last week, though, the Lady Nighthawks weren’t challenged quite as much and came away with a 7-1 win over Stratford and a 5-1 win over Immaculate to improve to 9-0-1 overall, 7-0-1 in the South-West Conference.

The ‘Hawks have out-scored their opponents 38-9 in those 10 games.

In the win over Stratford, Kasey Schulz and Tania Domingos scored two goals apiece while Megan Hansen, Kirsten Hudock and Kelly Sullivan scored one goal each. Domingos also had a pair of assists. The locals had a 15-2 shot advantage over the Red Devils, whose goal was their first ever against Newtown since first appearing on the schedule back in 1999.

In the win over Immaculate, Schulz and Domingos dominated again, scoring two goals apiece while each assisting on a goal. Colleen Thornberg added a goal on a blast from the top of the box while Monica Warek registered a pair of assists.

The ‘Hawks were in Southbury on Thursday to take on Pomperaug and will visit Weston on Tuesday before returning home next Tuesday to host Joel Barlow. The girls will then visit Bunnell next Thursday before wrapping up the regular season on Monday, October 22, against Bunnell.

Newtown 7, Stratford 1

GOALS: Newtown – Kasey Schulz 2, Tania Domingos 2, Megan Hansen, Kelly Sullivan, Kirsten Hudock; Stratford – Sarah Stevens. ASSISTS: Newtown – Tania Domingos 2, Kasey Schulz, Megan Hansen, Gabby Nastri, Lauren Meyer, Kristen Tanner. SHOTS: Newtown – 15; Stratford – 2. SAVES: Newtown – Emily Kluga and Jenna Legros 1; Stratford – Herman 9. CORNER KICKS: Newtown – 4; Stratford – 0.

Newtown 5, Immaculate 1

GOALS: Newtown – Tania Domingos 2, Kasey Schulz 2, Colleen Thornberg; Immaculate – Jen Daily. ASSISTS: Newtown – Monica Warek 2, Kasey Schulz, Tania Domingos, Brittany Papaj. SHOTS: Immaculate – 2; Newtown – 8. SAVES: Immaculate – Corey  Medrano and Emily  DaSilva 3; Newtown – Emily  Kluga 2. CORNER KICKS: Immaculate – 2; Newtown – 5.

PLAYER                   G       A       PT

Tania Domingos       9      12       21

Kasey Schulz          14        6       20

Megan Hansen         5        1         6

Gabby Nastri           2        4         6

Monica Warek         1        3         4

Brittany Papaj          0        3         3

Kelley Sullivan         2        0         2

Colleen Thornberg   1        1         2

Jen Brewer               1        0         1

Taylor Smith             0        1         1

Lauren Meyer          0        1         1

Kirsten Hudock        1        0         1

Kristen Tanner          0        1         1

TOTALS                  36      33       69

VOLLEYBALL

Newtown 3, Notre Dame 0

Newtown 3, New Fairfield 0

It may seem weird to say it, but ho-hum.

The Newtown High School volleyball team remained undefeated, improving to 10-0 overall (and earning a fifth-place berth on the State Coaches’ Poll) with a pair of comfortable 3-0 wins over Notre Dame and New Fairfield.

The Lady Nighthawks have been incredibly dominant, dropping just two games the entire season.

Last week was more of the same with the easy 25-5, 25-17, 25-7 run through Notre Dame and the 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 win over New Fairfield.

Against Notre Dame, Morgan Knees had seven service aces, seven kills and three blocks while Rachel Marcucilli had her chance and came up with four kills. Sarah Truitt added 12 assists and five service aces.

Against New Fairfield, Knees recorded 10 more kills and four blocks while Jordyn Good knocked down seven kills and registered five service aces. Megan Casey chipped in with seven kills and six digs.

In the poll, the locals rank below Darien (10-0), Cheshire (10-0), Coventry (9-0) and Bristol Eastern (9-1). The only other South-West Conference team in the Top 15 is 10-0 Joel Barlow, at No. 13. And the clash between the Lady Falcons and the Lady Nighthawks is just a couple weeks away – on the final day of the regular season, Wednesday, October 24.

Before that, though, the ‘Hawks hosted Masuk on Wednesday and will host Bethel on Friday before visiting Kolbe Cathedral on Monday. The locals will return home next Wednesday to host Weston.

BOYS SOCCER

Newtown 5, Stratford 0

Newtown 2, Immaculate 0

Having seen the bulk of their offensive firepower disappear, the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team may have struggled at times this fall.

But the Nighthawks showed they still have the gumption to pull out a nice win – as they did on Tuesday afternoon in Danbury when they topped Immaculate, 2-0, to improve to 5-2-3 overall and 5-1-2 in the South-West Conference.

The Mustangs fell to 5-4-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the SWC.

Andrew Meisel and Eric Thornberg broke a 0-0 tie with second-half goals to lift the ‘Hawks past the Mustangs. Senior co-captain Dan Smith faced eight shots and made three saves to earn the shutout.

In the win over Stratford, Sean Ryan scored two goals while Ben Mahony, Eric Thornberg and Connor Collier scored a goal apiece. Mahony, Meisel, Evan Kennedy and Neris Halili all registered assists. Senior co-captain Kyle DiNicola earned the shutout without having to face a single shot.

The locals hosted Pomperaug on Thursday night at Blue & Gold Stadium and will host Weston on Saturday at 12 noon on the DeGroat/Anderson Complex behind the school. They will be in Redding on Tuesday to face Joel Barlow and will return home next Thursday to host Bunnell before closing out the regular season on Monday, October 22, against Brookfield.

PLAYER                   G       A       PT

Andrew Meisel         5        2         7

Neris Halili               4        2         6

Eric Thornberg         3        3         6

Connor Collier          2        3         5

Evan Kennedy          2        2         4

Sean Ryan                3        0         3

Ben Mahony             1        2         3

Ryan Hudock           1        2         3

Jeff DiNicola           1        1         2

Kyle Droniak            1        1         2

Chris Marks              0        1         1

TOTALS                  24      18       42