Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team scored twice in the first 11 minutes and change and held off the host Masuk Panthers for a 2-1 victory in the South-West Conference tournament quarterfinals on November 1.

Fourth-seeded Masuk will wait for the start of the state tournament to get back to game action; the fifth-seeded Nighthawks advanced to the Monday, November 4 semifinals for a matchup with the winner of top-seeded Pomperaug and eight seed Immaculate.

Sydney Howard and Katie Rowan had the Newtown goals. Faith O’Hara assisted Howard’s goal and Howard set up the second tally.

Masuk pressured Newtown’s defense, especially in the second half, and Nighthawk goalkeeper Julianna Stavola made a handful of saves to keep the Nighthawks ahead by two — plus the Panthers hit the post during a second-half scramble — before Kacey Lawrence got the Panthers on the board with just 9:29 to go.

“I’m so proud of the effort collectively from the whole team,” said Newtown Coach Marc Kenney, adding that midfielder Karsen Pirone was the best player on the field with her strong play both with possession and defending the ball.

Kenney’s Nighthawks implemented a couple of strategies that paid dividends. The first was that defender Ally McCarthy mark Lawrence, a standout not only for Masuk but in the league and state. McCarthy did a stellar job in her role, Kenney noted.

The second was the make an effort to get the ball wide and serve it into the 18-yard box to generate scoring chances. Newtown generated both of its goals using this formula, with O’Hara playing a key role in both net-finders.

Freshman Skylar Howard, who played on the freshman and junior varsity teams during the regular slate, was called up for this game for her ability to power the ball into the box, and had a solid game on the left wing side.

Kenney said that Newtown had to switch up its game plan with these strategies due to the offensive abilities of Lawrence and defensive prowess of Susan Matthews.

“Kacey Lawrence and Susan Matthews are two of the best we’ve competed against all season. They force you to do a lot of things tactically you don’t want to do,” Kenney said.

The Nighthawks and Panthers played to a 1-1 tie during the regular slate, one of seven stalemates in which Newtown was involved. NHS tied Pomperaug and Immaculate in two more 1-1 outcomes, and Pomperaug defeated the Nighthawks 2-0 in an early-season rematch of last year’s conference finalists (NHS is the defending conference champion).