The No. 17 seed Newtown High School field hockey team went to No. 16 Stamford for a Class L State Tournament qualifying-round matchup and came away with a dramatic 1-0 victory on November 7.

Alison Powers broke up the scoreless game with just nine seconds remaining. Powers had a shot that hit the post and Rachael Albrecht got possession and sent a pass back to Powers who deposited the decisive tally.

“The game was very physical but the girls stayed strong,” Newtown Coach John Savage said.

Strong defense led by Jules Battaglia, Jenna Lagan, Nella Walsh, and Mo Murphy limited Stamford to just one shot on goal. Newtown goaltender Riley Alesevich cleared the ball away from the cage four times to prevent opportunities.

Reese Lischuk and Abby Ihlefeld controlled the middle of the field. Newtown moved the ball well to generate chances.

“So proud of how they followed the game plan to spread the field. We had seven penalty corners to their two,” Savage noted.

With the win, the Nighthawks earned a visit to top seed and unbeaten Darien in the first round on November 9 and fell 7-0.

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