Newtown High School's girls' soccer team extended its unbeaten ways to five straight games, following up wins over New Fairfield and Harding-Bassick of Bridgeport with a 5-0 victory at Bunnell of Stratford on October 15 and a pair of scoreless ties — at Pomperaug of Southbury on October 17 and home against Joel Barlow of Redding at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 20.

The Nighthawks have secured a South-West Conference Tournament berth and head into Thursday's regular-season finale at Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport at 4 pm jockeying with teams for the sixth or seventh position in the standings.

There is a lot of balance in the SWC. Although defending Champion Notre Dame Prep (37 points) entered into the last day holding an eight-point edge over Pomperaug, which holds the No 2 seed by a single point over New Fairfield, there is not only parity in the standings but on the scoreboard. Brookfield and Masuk of Monroe (27 points each), Weston (25), and both NHS and Barlow (24) round out the playoff field.

Notre Dame's one blemish was a 1-1 tie with a fourth-place Brookfield team Newtown shut out 2-0. Newtown kept it close in a 1-0 setback to Notre Dame, battled Pomperaug to a tie, and also settled for a tie with Barlow despite controlling possession and dominating in chances throughout their matchup. One thing is for sure, scoreless ties will not be happening in the SWC playoffs.

"It's tough when we have the upper edge for most of the game," Newtown Coach Adam Bourret said. "We've got to find a way now that it's playoff time. You've got to score or you can't win. We've got a good team. It's just about piecing it together."

NHS, in its win over Bunnell, got two goals from Olivia Fernandes, and a goal apiece from Makenzie Fregoe, Natalie delCampo, and Delia Stango. Blake Heim-Sherwood, Amelia Bossio-Dotolo, and Fernandes had assists.

The SWC tourney is set to begin on Monday, October 26, with semifinals two days later and the title game scheduled to take place at Western Connecticut State University on Sunday, November 1 at 4 pm.

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