After nearly 79 minutes of scoreless soccer, and a few scoring chances along the way, visiting and No 6 seed Pomperaug of Southbury cashed in off a rebound following a corner kick to upset No 3 Newtown High School 1-0 in the South-West Conference Tournament boys’ soccer quarterfinals at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 20. The stalemate-breaking tally came with just 1:07 remaining.

The Nighthawks fought until the bitter end, nearly scoring a sweet goal to tie things. Jonah Kaiser sent a long ball into the 18-yard box, where Kaio Dos Santos used his speed to get behind defenders and boot a bouncing ball just over the crossbar with 35 seconds left.

Newtown thought it had taken the lead 15 minutes into the second half when Landon Dorsey and Jeff Prout worked a nice give-and-go, setting up Manny Adomanko for a goal that was waived off on an offside call. The Nighthawks kept pressing. Malakai Ortner crossed to set up Prout for a shot blocked by a Panther defender with eight-plus minutes to play. The ball just would not find the net for Newtown on this night.

“It’s playoff soccer,” Newtown Coach Ryan Lyddy said. “The guys were up for the challenge.”

Things just did not go Newtown’s way, similarly to the regular slate when Pomperaug came away with a 1-0 victory.

“I thought we played pretty well. The energy was there,” said Lyddy, noting that not only starters but players off the bench contributed to the effort.

The silver lining is that the Nighthawks, with several players banged up, have a chance to rest and rest for the Class LL State Tournament.

“That’s a positive thing for us,” Lyddy said. “That’s something we’re looking forward to.”

Newtown went 10-4-2 during the regular season and is ranked No 11 in the bracket. First-round action is scheduled to be played on Halloween or November 1; opponents and game times to be determined.

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