It is not too unusual for conference playoff soccer playoff games to come down to penalty kicks given the potential for closely-contested games going to best of five PKs after regulation and double overtime ties.

But Newtown High School’s penalty kick path to the South-West Conference Tournament finals was pretty unlikely. A trio of penalty kicks during regulation of Newtown’s quarterfinal and semifinal round games at Blue & Gold Stadium played a key role in the No. 1 seed Nighthawks reaching the pinnacle game.

Connor Muir scored on a penalty in the first half of Newtown’s 2-0 victory over No. 5 Brookfield in the November 1 semis. Gabe Petertonjes added a second-half tally with a blast under the cross bar off a cross from Ryan Payne. Cal Lucas got the play started with a feed up the wing.

The Nighthawks avenged their only regular-season loss, a 1-0 setback to the Bobcats, and advanced to the Thursday, November 3, championship tilt against No. 6 Pomperaug of Southbury, a 2-1 winner in PKs over No. 2 Weston in the other semifinal. The title game will take place at neutral site Brookfield High at 7 pm. NHS defeated Pomperaug 2-0 late in the regular slate.

“I thought the ball movement was good. The kids played with some energy, they played with some pride, and some determination,” Newtown Coach Ryan Lyddy said.

Locked up in a scoreless stalemate, the quarterfinal-round battle between Newtown and No. 8 Immaculate of Danbury seemed destined for the potential for game-deciding penalty kicks. As it turned out, the October 29 late-afternoon clash came down to a pair of regulation PKs. Newtown won the game 1-0.

Muir was fouled in the 18 yard box and capitalized on his kick by putting a low shot into the right half of the goal with 9:58 left in regulation. That goal stood up thanks in part to an Immaculate PK miss over the top with just 41 seconds left after a Newtown handball during a wild scramble near the left post. A sprawling save by goalkeeper Yarema Stasyshyn to thwart an Immaculate 2-on-1 opportunity kept things scoreless just before the midpoint of the first half.

Immaculate had the better of the play throughout the contest, including 50-50 balls, said Lyddy, adding "We didn't deserve to win this game."

Newtown had beaten Immaculate 2-1 during the regular season and a close playoff contest was of no surprise to Lyddy, whose team went 9-1-3 in conference play but had ten of those games decided by just one goal or finish in a tie. NHS scored two or less goals in all but three games overall this fall en route to a 10-1-4 mark.

"We're not a high-powered offensive team. We're more defensive-minded," the coach said.

Lyddy noted before the semifinal round that things were wide open. "Anybody can take this league. From one through eight it's all over the place,” he said.

Brookfield was a 1-0 winner over No. 4 Bethel in the semis. Also of note, Pomperaug defeated No. 3 Joel Barlow of Redding 1-0 in double overtime. Weston advanced with a 5-0 win over No. 7 Masuk of Monroe.

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