Desperate to get the tying goal, Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team did everything but knot the score in a hard-fought 2-1 loss to visiting Brookfield, at Treadwell Park on October 24. The defeat was not only tough in its own right, but determined which of the South-West Conference rivals would qualify for the conference tournament.

Newtown and Brookfield went into the game each with 16 points and with their three points earned in the win the Bobcats moved into the eighth seed. Both teams had one game to play, but Brookfield owned the tiebreaker and, thus, at least the eighth spot. The Bobcats went on close out the season with another victory and bumped up to the sixth seed.

In the game at Newtown, the Bobcats carried a 2-0 lead into the mid-stages of the second half before the Nighthawks turned it on and had the visitors on their heels. Ryan Ruddy executed a give-and-go with Joe Premus along the left sideline and centered to Jalen Minter for a tally that sliced the deficit in half.

Pressure by Thomas Armstrong, Minter, and Premus piled up. An apparent goal by Minter was waved off on an offside, but the Nighthawks kept pressuring. In the end, the Bobcats were fortunate to escape with the W.

“It’s an 80-minute match. You can’t choose which minutes you’re going to play and which you’re not,” Newtown Coach Charley Amblo said.

The Nighthawks rebounded with a 6-1 victory over winless Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport at Treadwell Park on October 29. Tanner Trede scored three times, Jack Petersen had two goals, and Minter scored. Connor Mandarano, Tristan Andrew, and Premus had assists. The Nighthawks finish the season at 8-7-1 overall and 6-6-2 in South-West Conference play.

Amblo said the Kolbe match provided an opportunity to try formation changes like in the early stage of season as well as a chance for players nursing injuries to rest and give team members some well-earned playing time.

“Now it’s a new season, starting with a modified preseason and some formalized inter-squad scrimmages that will lead into our first match of the new state tourney season at hand,” Amblo said.