By Kim J. Harmon

MONROE – When the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team met Masuk on Monday night, its players – as well as its coach – knew the game would go a long way to determining the pecking order in the hierarchy of the South-West Conference.

“It was my opinion, and I told the girls this,” said first-year coach Rupert de los Reyes, “that the winner of the game would the No. 1 seed in the SWC tournament.”

Well, then, that would be Masuk – a 2-0 winner over Newtown. And by virtue of a 2-1 loss to Joel Barlow about 15 days ago, that would – in a purely geometric sense – put Newtown third in the pecking order.

Of course, all of that is subject to change.

“These kids are special,” said coach de los Reyes. “They are winners. They want to win. And they have learned the lessons that will get them to the championship.”

For instance – never get suckered into playing another team’s style, like they were against Joel Barlow. Also, make sure to take advantage of your few opportunities, much like they didn’t against Masuk.

“We had our chances to score (against Masuk),” said coach de los Reyes. “I think we dominated the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game. Easily, if we had taken advantage of a couple opportunities it could have been at least a tie.”

If there was one thing the ‘Hawks could take some consolation in, it’s the fact that they didn’t hand the game over on a silver platter. Sophomore striker Chelsea Morin said, although it was disappointing, the ‘Hawks were simply beaten by a real good team.

The coach concurred.

“No, we didn’t give it away,” he said. “They took it. But (Stephanie) Zaleta and (Amanda) Pinto are two of the top strikers in the state.”

Zaleta and Pinto displayed their skills with some stunning moves that led to the only two goals of the game – the first by Zaleta in the first half and the second by Pinto in the second half.

“I think we showed our youth and lack of composure,” said coach de los Reyes. “This was a learning experience.”

It was a learning experience for Masuk, as well.

“If we went down to Masuk and didn’t have opportunities (to score),” coach de los Reyes added, “I’d be concerned. I think (Masuk) knew we were in the game the whole way.”

And it would be a heck of a thing if the two teams were to meet again in two weeks (specifically, on Friday, November 2) – this time with the SWC championship on the line.

The loss dropped Newtown to 9-2-0.

The week had gotten a nice boost last Thursday as the ‘Hawks turned in a convincing, 5-1, win over Foran at Treadwell Park. Mary Anders scored a pair of goals in the while Morin, Carrie Lipnick and Siobhan Cooper scored one apiece.

Alex Helfer, Morin, Anders and Lipnick all had assists.

Some expected a closer game, but the ‘Hawks played a much faster, more determined style this time around and got to many more free balls than they had a week earlier against Joel Barlow. The ‘Hawks were also far more aggressive.

“They played at a higher level that night,” said coach de los Reyes.

A day later, the ‘Hawks shut out Weston, 2-0. Morin and Lipnick both scored while Allison Frobey and Anders provided assists.

The ‘Hawks hope to regain that same kind of fire they used to blast Foran as they enter the SWC and CIAC state playoffs. And an hour-long team meeting on Tuesday afternoon began the process.

“Right now,” said coach de los Reyes, “we’re trying to resolve some confidence issues. They need to feel that confidence in the big games.”

And it probably starts with being confident they will be in the big games come the end of the month. All the rest follows.

The ‘Hawks battled Pomperaug on Wednesday (after press time) and will meet New Milford on Saturday at 7 pm. Then they will travel to Bunnell on Tuesday before ending the regular season on Thursday, October 25, with an afternoon game in Brookfield.

Jayvees

The junior varsity Nigh-thawks have had a pretty spectacular season thus far, too.

The ‘Hawks opened with wins over Jonathan Law, Weston and Brookfield before falling to Masuk. After that, they rattled off wins over New Fairfield, Bethel, New Milford and Foran to run their record to 7-1-0.

In a 7-0 win over Law, Cooper scored three goals while Becky Corrigan scored two. Kristen Davis and Kate Stickles added one each. In a 7-0 win over Weston, Rachel Ventobel scored three goals, Kate Fenton had two, and Stickles and Heidi Ekstrom had one apiece. Kelly Collier assisted twice as Davis assisted once.

In a 4-2 win over Brookfield, Cooper scored two more goals while Fenton and Anders had one each. Fenton, Ventobel and Davis all had one assist. In the 2-1 loss to Masuk, Ekstrom scored the lone goal for the ‘Hawks.

In a 6-0 win over New Fairfield, Stickles, Ekstrom, Cooper, Davis, Collier and Caroline Kunkel all scored. Davis also had an assist. In a 3-0 win over Bethel, Corrigan, Brittany Meier and Fenton scored the goals while Stickles had two assists and Davis and Cooper had one assist apiece.

In a 1-0 win over New Milford, Erin Doyle scored off a Kelly Corrigan assist. And in a 5-0 win over Foran, Cooper scored three goals while Ekstrom scored one. Cooper and Melissa Russell both had assists.