By Kim J. Harmon

A doubleheader soccer showdown with Masuk in the South-West Conference championships was a distinct possibility late Monday night, but while the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team saw its chance end with a 1-0 loss to Joel Barlow the girls’ soccer team got its chance with a 1-0 win over Bethel in the semi-finals.

It is the first time the Newtown girls’ soccer program – once the pre-eminent power of the former Western Connecticut Conference – has reached the SWC finals.

Meanwhile, the football team continued its hunt for a CIAC Class LL playoff berth with a 7-0 win over Darien; the cross country teams finished third at the CIAC Class LL championships and both qualified for the CIAC State Open; the volleyball team swept Joel Barlow and advanced to the SWC semifinals; the field hockey team advanced to the SWC semi-finals with an overtime win over Bethel; and the swim team concluded the dual meet season riding a three-meet winning streak.

Read on –

GIRLS SOCCER

Newtown 5, New Milford 0

Newtown 1, Bethel 0

Other than Masuk, the only team to give the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team a serious  scare this season was Bethel.

And since the Lady Nighthawks have never been to a South-West Conference championship game before, it would be understandable if nerves were a little tight in the SWC semifinals on Monday night.

But there weren’t.

“These kids have no fear,” said head coach Rupert de los Reyes. “Nothing effects them. They don’t get tight; they just go out and compete.”

And after feeling their way through the first several minutes of the game, the ‘Hawks – who have not allowed a goal in their past seven games – settled down and dominated the Lady Wildcats.

A 1-0 win sent the ‘Hawks into the championship against Masuk.

The Lady Panthers are the only team to force the locals to taste defeat – and that was back on September 13. Since then, the ‘Hawks are 15-0-1, with that tie (0-0) coming against the Lady Panthers on October 3.

The title game was set for Thursday at 7 pm at Joel Barlow in Redding.

Kasey Schulz scored the lone goal of the game against Bethel at the 22:15 mark. The ‘Hawks continued to pressure Bethel goaltender Chelsea Schumacher and recorded 14 shots on the night, forcing Schumacher to make six saves.

Newtown goaltender Emily Kluga – who has, with the occasional aid of backup goaltender Jessica Halloran, recorded 14 shutouts on the year and seven in a row heading into the finals – had another strong night between the pipes and recorded three saves on three Bethel shots.

And she got a lot of help with another stellar defensive effort from the likes of Kyla Miles, Kristi Nowak, Gabbi Nastri and Erica Vacaro.

“This is basically the same set of defenders we’ve had over the last couple of years,” said coach de los Reyes, “and I was really confident the defense would be the most solid part of our team.”

With the 14 shutouts Kluga has registered, the locals have allowed just four goals all season ... two of those to Masuk in the season opener.

The Hawks advanced to the semi-finals by virtue of a 5-0 win over New Milford last week. Schulz, a sophomore, had a spectacular night with four goals and an assist to stoke the fire under the Newtown offense. Darcy Fiscella had a goal and an assist while Megan Hansen and Ally Modzelewski registered assists.

The ‘Hawks out-shot the Green Wave, 26-3, and Kluga needed to make just one save on a soft serve into the penalty box.

“This group is the best team I’ve had as far as their camaraderie,” said coach de los Reyes. “That’s everything and it’s what put this all together.”

Newtown 5, New Milford 0

GOALS: Newtown – Kasey Schulz 4, Darcy Fiscella. ASSISTS: Newtown – Darcy Fiscella, Kasey Schulz, Megan Hansen, Ally Modzelewski. SHOTS: Newtown – 26; New Milford – 3. SAVES: Newtown – Emily Kluga 1; New Milford – Kiersten Luncott 7.

Newtown 1, Bethel 0

GOALS: Newtown – Kasey Schulz. SHOTS: Bethel – 3; Newtown – 14. SAVES: Bethel – Chelsea Schumacher 6; Newtown – Emily Kluga 3.

BOYS SOCCER

Newtown 2, Bethel 0

Barlow 2, Newtown 1 (OT)

It was a memorable battle, one befitting a South-West Conference championship game, let alone a semi-final game, and it ended on the final attempt in the second round of penalty kicks on Monday night at Blue & Gold Stadium.

Newtown and Joel Barlow were as evenly matched as two teams could get. The Nighthawks and the Falcons scuffled in a 2-2 draw that opened the season on September 12 before the ‘Hawks a 1-0 win at Treadwell Park on October 21.

Forget that Barlow was a No. 1 seed and Newtown was a No. 5 seed because on Monday night seeds didn’t mean a thing.

“It was fun, it was entertaining, it was back and forth,” said head coach Brian Neumeyer, who saw his team drop to 11-4-2 on the year. “Neither team was sitting back waiting for PKs.”

The first half was a scoreless draw even though Barlow seemed to have a couple of better chances on the net. And with 29:57 left in the second half, the Falcons had the best chance of the night but a header at the right post just slipped past the goal.

Just about 13 minutes later, though, the Falcons finally broke through.

It started with a beautiful throw-in deep near the end line. Newtown goaltender Danny Smith reached up and got a hand on the ball, but not enough to knock it clear and it turned into a scramble in front of the net before Taylor Armstrong rifled the ball home to put Joel Barlow ahead, 1-0.

The goal did little to sap the resolve of the ‘Hawks, however.

“Right after they scored,” said coach Neumeyer, “(Mike) Vontobel moved top the midfield and the energy level picked up.”

And with 8:14 left, Vontobel – who was a defensive stalwart throughout the first half – served a ball to Nick Sando, who was able to punch it inside the left post past Joel Barlow goaltender Cody Hickok to tie the score.

Neither team could break the tie and the game headed into sudden-death overtime. But 20 more minutes of soccer were not enough to decide the matter and the game headed into the penalty kick shootout.

After two kicks, the teams were tied 2-2 but in the third round Miller made a sharp save to his left to give Newtown the advantage. The ‘Hawks connected on their first four attempts, but the last one which would have salted the match – taken by Sando – was stopped cold by Hickok and the game went to another round.

Miller started with a solid save, but Hickok matched him. The two teams then converted on their next two kicks, but the Falcons grabbed the match when Andrew Domingos and Aron Fay were denied by Hickok on their attempts.

“I thought we out-played them in the second half and in overtime,” said coach Neumeyer, “and we could have won in PKs. So we had our chances.”

The ‘Hawks advanced to the semi-finals by virtue of a 2-0 win over No. 4 seed Bethel last week. Brian Conroy and Mike Klein scored the goals with Justin Miller notching an assist.

The ‘Hawks will await the start of the CIAC Class LL tournament and are currently ranked 18th in the division (tied with East Hartford) with a .733 winning percentage. At press time, it appeared as if the ‘Hawks could be headed on the road for a first round contest.

Newtown 2, Bethel 0

GOALS: Newtown – Brian Conroy, Michael Klein. ASSISTS: Newtown – Justin Miller. SHOTS: Newtown – 20; Bethel – 6. SAVES: Newtown – Danny Smith 6; Bethel – Justin Bartholomew 18.

Joel Barlow 2, Newtown 1 (OT)

GOALS: Joel Barlow – Taylor Armstrong; Newtown – Nick Sando. ASSISTS: Joel Barlow – Jake Edwards; Newtown – Mike Vontobel. SHOTS: Joel Barlow – 8; Newtown – 11. SAVES: Joel Barlow – Cody Hickok 7; Newtown – Daniel Smith 4.

FIELD HOCKEY

Newtown 2, New Fairfield 0

Newtown 1, Watertown 0

Newtown 2, Bethel 1 (OT)

After playing extremely well in two meetings, the Newtown High School field hockey team had nothing to fear from New Milford in the South-West Conference semi-finals Tuesday night at Brookfield High School.

Nothing to fear … but not enough to win.

The Green Wave knocked the Lady Nighthawks out of the tournament on the heels of a 2-0 decision, dropping the ‘Hawks to 9-7-0-1 on the year.

Alex Carlson scored on a penalty stroke at 20:36 of the first half and Sarah DaRos added an insurance goal at 25:07 of the second half to lift the Green Wave to the win.

New Milford had a 15-5 advantage in shots and a 12-6 advantage in penalty corners, but it was a good, strong effort for the ‘Hawks.

“It was,” said head coach Kathy Davey. “And New Milford is a good team.”

The ‘Hawks advanced to the semi-finals with a thrilling 2-1, come-from-behind overtime win over Bethel on Monday at Treadwell Park.

Carey Stephens put the Lady Wildcats on top in the first half off an assist from Sara Oberle and held that advantage through the half as goaltender Brey Ferguson was able to stop a penalty flick by Katie Datin.

But in the second half, the ‘Hawks began to turn up the pressure.

“It was almost as if we were thinking too far ahead,” said co-captain Sam Wong. “We knew New Milford was there (at the game) watching and it was on our minds. We were just going through the motions and weren’t focused. When coach Davey told us to tell her if we wanted to play this game or not, I think that snapped us out of it.”

Wong tied the game at 1-1, re-directing a hard smash from Hannah Tenenbaum high up into the cage. The locals had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a shot with three seconds left was stopped by Ferguson.

The game went into the 7v7 overtime format and it wasn’t long – less than two minutes – before Steph Paproski knocked in a rebound off a Courtney Gleason shot to give the ‘Hawks the 2-1 win and set up another engagement with New Milford.

The ‘Hawks closed out the conference regular season schedule with wins over New Fairfield (2-0) and Watertown (1-0).

Renee Solheim and Wong scored in the win over the Lady Rebels while Wong scored the lone goal in the win over the Lady Indians.

As of press time, a non-league, regular season matchup with Shepaug was still on tap (start time at 3:15 pm at Treadwell Park).

Newtown 2, New Fairfield 0

GOALS: Newtown – Renee Solheim, Sam Wong. ASSISTS: Newtown – Libby Feltch, Steph Paproski. SHOTS: Newtown –  11; New Fairfield –  4. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 4; New Fairfield – Amanda Visser 9.

Newtown 1, Watertown 0

GOALS: Newtown – Sam Wong. ASSISTS: Newtown – Steph Paproski. SHOTS: Newtown – 16; Watertown – 12. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 9; Watertown – Kaylee Borkowski 10.

Newtown 2, Bethel 1 (OT)

GOALS: Bethel – Carey Stephens; Newtown – Sam Wong, Steph Paproski. ASSISTS: Bethel – Sara Oberle; Newtown – Hannah Tenenbaum, Courtney Gleason. SHOTS: Bethel – 8; Newtown – 16. SAVES: Bethel – Brey Ferguson 9; Newtown – Lisa Isabella 7. PENALTY CORNERS: Bethel – 5; Newtown – 22.

New Milford 2, Newtown 0

GOALS: New Milford - Alex Carlson, Sarah DaRos. SHOTS: New Milford – 15; Newtown – 5. SAVES: New Milford – Amelia Taylor 1; Newtown – Lisa Isabella 7. PENALTY CORNERS: New Milford – 12; Newtown – 6.

FOOTBALL

Newtown 7, Darien 0

Unable to showcase its versatile offensive attack – thanks to blustery conditions last Saturday – the Newtown High School football team instead elected to grind things out and play defense and came away with a 7-0 non-conference win over Darien.

The Nighthawks improved to 6-1 overall and are currently fifth in the CIAC Class LL state playoff rankings (1.42 points behind Fairfield Prep).

The locals scored on the opening drive of the game on a 10-yard pass from Tucker Kass to Joe Bowen and from there it was a battle of field position and rushing attacks. The ‘Hawks rushed the ball 44 times for 136 yards and Kass went to the air just seven times, completing five passes to five different receivers.

The longest toss went 31 yards to Bob Lapple.

The Blue Wave went to the air more frequently, but quarterback Jon Schoen was only 10-of-22 for 72 yards. The running attack accounted for just 84 yards, giving Darien just 156 yards of total offense on the afternoon.

The ‘Hawks are still in a hunt for a South-West Conference playoff berth and will host Pomperaug on Friday, at 7 pm, to hopefully take another step in that direction.

Newtown 7, Darien 0

First quarter: Newtown – Joe Bowen, 10 pass from Tucker Kass (John Nelson kick).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Newtown – Chris Potter 25-83, Tyler Tarantino 6-25, Tucker Kass 7-13, Jake DeVellis 3-12, Joey DeVellis 3-3; Darien – Rob McDonald 9-42, Kevin Joy 9-23, Brendan Ross 3-16, Jon Schoen 1-3. Passing: Newtown – Tucker Kass 5-7-0, 65 yards; Darien – Jon Schoen 10-22-0, 72 yards. Receiving: Newtown – Bob Lapple 1-31, Joey DeVellis 1-13, Joe Bowen 1-10, Travis Speer 1-8, Tarantino 1-3; Darien – Rob McDonald 3-8, Wes Preston 2-25, John Haire 2-24, Peter Saulitis 2-14, Brendan Ross 1-1.

VOLLEYBALL

Newtown 3, Joel Barlow 1

Newtown 3, Joel Barlow 0

Two wins in a row over the same team and the second was better than the first.

The Newtown High School volleyball team had the unusual opportunity in meet Joel Barlow last Wednesday to close out the regular season and then meet Barlow again, two days later, in the quarterfinals of the South-West Conference tournament.

The Lady Nighthawks recorded wins in both matches, but the second win – when it really counted – was a much better showing for a team that won its first 11 matches of the season.

In the season finale, the ‘Hawks earned a 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22 win over the Lady Falcons as Christie Iwanicki recorded nine kills and eight digs and Morgan Knees registered eight kills and nine blocks. Jordyn Good also had a solid performance with four kills and six digs.

The ‘Hawks were not particularly sharp in the win, but were much sharper last Friday in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-16 sweep. Jill Logan had 11 digs and registered 22 assists while Knees recorded 13 kills and four blocks.

Iwanicki had eight kills and 10 digs for the locals, who battled Bethel (after press time) in the SWC semi-finals. The Lady Wildcats handed the ‘Hawks their first loss of the season, 3-1, back on Friday, October 13.

If the ‘Hawks make it past the ‘Cats, another finals meeting with undefeated Bunnell would likely be in the offing.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

3rd at Class LL championships

Uncommon performances – that’s what it took to lead the Newtown High School girls’ cross country team to a third-place finish at the CIAC Class LL state championships Monday afternoon at Wickham Park in Manchester.

With Elise DeRoo and Jen Brill taking their usual spots as the top two Newtown finishers, Michelle Brennan came in 20th overall (18th in the team scoring) while running the last mile or so – or some rocky terrain – with one shoe.

But that’s not all.

Christie Attanasio and Erin Nemeth have been running strong all year, but often as the sixth and seventh Newtown runners. On Monday, however, Attanasio was 29th overall (27th in the team scoring) and Nemeth was 42nd (40th in the team scoring) to out-pace Sara Pollock (45th overall) and Moira Collier (55th overall).

Ridgefield nipped Glastonbury for the team title, 91-93, with Newtown coming in a close third at 109 points. Amity, William Hall and Manchester finished well off the pace in fourth and fifth place. With their performance, the girls received a wild-card bid to the CIAC State Open this weekend in Manchester.

 

TEAM SCORES: 1. Ridgefield 91, 2. Glastonbury 93, 3. Newtown 109, 4. Amity, 5. (tie) Hall and Manchester 172, 7. Cheshire 193, 8. Norwich Free Academy 209, 9. Hamden 269, 10. (tie) South Windsor and Shelton 274, 12. New Milford 294, 13. Greenwich 328, 14. Staples 357, 15. Southington 382, 16. Trumbull 391, 17. Naugatuck 438, 18. Danbury 498, 19. Norwalk 595, 20. West Haven 624, 21. Masuk 669, 22. Westhill 686.

INDIVIDUALS: 1. Jamie Olson (Glastonbury) 16:10, 2. Heather Stephens (Ridgefield) 16:23, 3. Courtney Dinnan (Hamden) 16:30, 4. Kristin Mitchell (Glastonbury) 16:31, 5. Stephanie Bohannon (Hall) 16:38, 6. Irene Kalbian (Cheshire) 16:54), 7. Jenna London (Hall) 16:57), 8. Christine Vogel (Glastonbury) 16:57, 9. Katherine Beam (South Windsor) 17:00, 10. Kathryn Vollinger (East Hartford) 17:03, 11. Ashley Sarris (Shelton) 17:03, 12. Elise DeRoo (Newtown) 17:20, 13. Alissa Watson (Manchester) 17:30, 14. Karina Johnson (East Hartford) 17:34, 15. Jen Brill (Newtown) 17:36, 16. Melissa Lloyd-Wilson (Ridgefield) 17:37, 17. Emily Harris (Glastonbury) 17:40, 18. Annelies Gamble (Amity) 17:43, 19. Paige Pallotto (Amity) 17:43, 20. Michelle Brennan (Newtown) 17:49, 29. Christie Attanasio (Newtown) 18:13, 42. Erin Nemeth (Newtown) 18:31, 45. Sara Pollock (Newtown) 18:35), 55. Moira Collier (Newtown) 18:50

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

Xxth at Class LL championships

A little measure of revenge.

A week or so after coming up two points short of New Milford at the South-West Conference championships, the Newtown High School boys’ cross country team was able to turn the tables a bit at the CIAC Class LL championships at Wickham Park in Manchester.

The Nighthawks finished third with 107 points while the Green Wave finished fifth with 120 points. Both were distant followers to Class LL champion Danbury, which took three of the top 10 individual spots and cruised into first-place with 47 points.

Glastonbury finished second with 74 points.

Eric Macknight was the top Newtown finisher, coming in 15th overall at 17:09, while the Nighthawks’ usual No. 1 finisher, Zack Schwartz, came in 17th overall at 17:10. The locals did a good job bunching themselves up as just 25 seconds separated their first and fifth finishers.

Charlie Baldour, who was unable to compete at last year’s Class LL meet due to illness, finished 19th overall at 17:12 while Kevin Hoyt finished 27th overall at 17:30. Scott Nichols was the fifth Newtown finisher, coming in 29th overall at 17:34.

Ryan Morrissey (47th – 17:52) and Jordan Reed (73rd – 18:24) had solid finishes.

The ‘Hawks earned a wild card bid into the CIAC State Open, which will be held this Friday at Wickham Park in Manchester.

 

TEAM SCORES: 1. Danbury 47, 2. Glastonbury 74, 3. Newtown 107, 4. Xavier 113, 5. New Milford 120, 6. Amity 169, 7. Manchester 207, 8. Norwich Free Academy 247, 9. Newington 270, 10. Ridgefield 288, 11. Naugatuck 300, 12. Southington 358, 13. Cheshire 367, 14. (tie) Shelton and South Windsor 376, 16. Westhill 438, 17. Trumbull 514, 18. Greenwich 527, 19. Fairfield Prep 555, 20. Hamden 579, 21. Norwalk 645, 22. New Britain 654, 23. Stamford 709, 24. (tie) East Hartford and Wilbur Cross 793.

INDIVIDUALS: 1. Donald Cabral (Glastonbury) 16:04, 2. Adam Vess (Xavier) 16:14, 3. Matt Terry (Danbury) 16:16, 4. Willie Ahearn (Danbury) 16:23, 5. Dan DeCrescenzo (New Milford) 16:28, 6. Daniel Pilz (Newington) 16:42, 7. Robert Dugger (Glastonbury) 16:44, 8. Forrest Misenti (Xavier) 16:45, 9. James Llamas (Glastonbury) 16:45, 10. Justin Rau (Danbury) 16:49, 11. Wesley Halstead (Amity) 16:52, 12. William Edgington (Manchester) 17:00, 13. Matthew Fahey (Xavier) 17:01, 14. Brady Becker (Danbury) 17:08, 15. Eric Macknight (Newtown) 17:09, 16. Joseph Bubniak (Danbury) 17:10, 17. Zach Schwartz (Newtown) 17:10, 18. Anthony Vento (New Milford) 17:11, 19. Charlie Baldour (Newtown) 17:12, 20. Paul Kichar (Amity) 17:13, 27. Kevin Hoyt (Newtown) 17:30, 29. Scott Nichols (Newtown) 17:34, 47. Ryan Morrissey (Newtown) 17:52, 73. Jordan Reed (Newtown) 18:24.

SWIMMING

Newtown 101, Masuk 86

As the pre-eminent team in the South-West Conference for the past three years, the prospects of finishing with a sub-.500 dual-meet record seemed unsavory for the Newtown High School girls’ swimming and diving team.

And so the Lady Nighthawks did something about it. With four seniors recording personal best times on Senior Night, the ‘Hawks closed out the regular season with a 101-85 win over rival Masuk to improve to 5-5.

It was a tight meet until the 200 freestyle relay ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams went 1-3. The foursome of Emma Atkinson, Jenna Legros, Annie Hull, and Jax VanWaalwijk took first while the foursome of Lucy Remitz, Nicole Borruso, Marlene Kroon and Jen Iassogna out-touched Masuk by 0.27 seconds for the key third place finish.

Then Lizanne Kroon (1:07.60) and senior Abby Carnali (best time of 1:12:80) went 1-2 in the 100 backstroke as Emma Atkinson (1:15.78) and Megan Baylis (1:19.58) went 1-3 in the 100 breaststroke to seal the meet.

Early on, it was pretty close. The 200 medley relay foursome of  Lizanne Kroon, Atkinson, Remitz and Va Waalwijk took first with a 2:04.27 to start things off but Masuk’s solid distance swimmers took 1-2 in the 200 freestyle with senior Sarah Harmonay taking third with a season-best 2:14.09.

Van Waalwijk (26.88) and Hull (28.08) went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle while senior Nicole Borruso (182.55) and junior Dayna Djonne (170.15) turned in their season-best scores to take 1-2 in diving.

Lucy Remitz took first in the 100 butterfly as VanWaalwijk and Hull went 2-3 in the 100 freestyle. In the 500 freestyle, seniors Jen Iassogna (5:52.20) and Harmonay (5:55.96) took third and fourth with a season-best times.

The girls are preparing this week for the South-West Conference swimming and diving championships (diving on Wednesday, after presstime, and swimming on Saturday). The CIAC Class LL championships will open next week.