Update: The SWC championship site will be Joel Barlow High in Redding. Game is Wednesday, November 6 at 7 pm.

The third time was the charm for the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team. After a pair of early-season meetings between the Nighthawks and Pomperaug of Southbury Panthers yielded a tie and Panther win, Newtown came through when it mattered most.

Just as it did a year ago.

In a rematch of last year’s South-West Conference championship game, the Nighthawks blanked Pomperaug 2-0 in the conference tournament semifinals, in Southbury on November 4, earning the right to go for a second consecutive title, and second in program history.

Kaley Meisenheimer scored the first goal and Karsen Pirone netted the second, set up by a Hannah Daly corner kick, less than a minute apart midway thought the first half. That was all the scoring and it was all fifth-seeded Newtown needed to take down the tournament’s top seed.

NHS will take on second-seeded Notre Dame-Fairfield, which it tied during the regular slate, in the Wednesday, November 6, title game at neutral site Joel Barlow in Redding, beginning at 7 pm.

Newtown Coach Marc Kenney said the postseason success his team has had is a testament to the leadership of his upperclassmen.

“They really taught me to be patient,” said Kenney, who was concerned about whether or not his team was poised to make a playoff run during struggles to score throughout the season.

Newtown lost only once in the regular season, but settled for seven ties, most of which the coach thought his team could have turned into wins.

While it might feel good to beat the one team to defeat the Hawks, it is not about the opponent in the eyes of this group, Kenney said.

“We always make it about us. It’s not about our opponent,” he said, adding that the team members are focused on each play throughout a game, regardless of the score.