Bantam Lacrosse Team Blanks Danbury

The Newtown Hawks bantam travel lacrosse team opened the season with a 6-0 victory over the Danbury Hatters this past weekend.

The dominance for the Hawks started early with William Wallace winning the opening faceoff. The Hawk offense went to work, moving the ball to attackman Jake Dandrea who found Jeffrey Garrity open on the wing for a pass to Wallace who buried a shot for Newtown’s first goal. The Hawks went back to work on their next possession with Wallace winning another faceoff, passing off to Garrity who then found Hawk midfielder James Iarpoli open in front of the cage for a goal and a 2-0 lead.

The Hatter defense clamped down for the remainder of the half, not allowing Newtown to jump out to a big lead. Hawk defenders Jameson Pears, William Hornby, and Collin Hoffman, along with bash brothers Aiden and Macklin Berry kept the Hatter offense in check for most of the game by swarming the ball whenever it crossed midfield. Nicholas Sabillon, Ryder Palumbo, and Phillip Capelli were monsters on ground balls, helping Newtown maintain possession.

The Hawks extended their lead in the second half when Luke Wellman found Ryan Ruddy on the wing who fired a shot past the Hatter goalie to give Newtown a 3-0 lead. A few minutes later Jake Dandrea earned his second assist when he dodged a Danbury defender and passed to Mathew Carpenter who wind-milled a shot into the Hatter goal.

Garrity and Wellman went to work on Newtown’s next possession with Garrity finding Wellman near the crease. Wellman quickly dodged a swarming Hatter defense for a Hawk goal. Wallace capped off the Newtown scoring with his second goal of the game off another Garrity assist.

Goalies Jack Stenz and Luke Hannan combined for the shutout, both making circus saves between the pipes. Up next for the Hawks is arch rival Relax.