By Kim J. Harmon

Despite the gloomy weather last Saturday the sun was – at least metaphorically – shining in Newtown when the Nighthawks found that their toughest opponent wasn’t necessarily the other team, but the rulebook.

The ‘Hawks raised their record to 2-3 on the season with a convincing 14-3 win over St. Joseph’s of Trumbull on Saturday – in the only local game that hadn’t been washed out by the incessant inclement weather. They slipped to 2-4, however, following a tough 9-7 loss to Hand of Madison on Tuesday.

Yes, the ‘Hawks scored almost at will against the Cadets (Matt Saunders had four goals and John Conlon had three) on Saturday and the only thing that really slowed them down was the rulebook – more specifically, the clause dealing with illegal sticks.

Three times the ‘Hawks were whistled for using an illegal stick and one of those whistles wiped a goal off the board. As could be expected, it was the first thing that coaches Brian Henricksen and Jason Hiruo dealt with right after the game.

But it was a minor issue on Saturday, since the Newtown offense seemed as if it would score no matter what. The ‘Hawks jumped out to a quick 4-0, first-period lead on goals by Sean Raby, Bryan Hamilton (who finished with a brilliant two-goal, four-assist effort), Saunders and Peter Yemc.

And it just kept going on into the second period.

The ‘Hawks went ahead 5-0 on a goal by Casey Kirch (his first of the year) and then 6-0 on a goal by Conlon (Hamilton notched the assist with a nice centering pass). The toughest effort of the day came next when Raby got the ball at the top of the box and muscled his way through the Cadet defense, bowling over one defender while taking a shot and putting Newtown ahead 7-0.

St. Joseph’s stopped the bleeding – briefly – with a quick shot but the ‘Hawks, showing remarkable patience on a long offensive set, went ahead 8-1 on another goal by Conlon (assist by Ben Kunkel). Soon after, the ‘Hawks mounted a furious assault on the Cadet cage in the final minute of the first half, but – amazingly – came away empty.

Saunders quickly opened the second half with a goal from near the top of the box (assist from Matt Sullivan) and then added another on a man-advantage situation (with Hamilton earning his fourth assist). Hamilton scored his own goal a few moments later, off a pass from Sullivan, and then Dan Maley chipped in with a long goal off a pass from Kirch. When Spencer D’Agostino later took a pass from Cameron Law, got slashed, spun around and fired a left-handed shot into the cage the ‘Hawks were ahead 13-1.

And it was still the third period.

St. Joseph’s answered with a goal before the period let out and then Saunders added his fourth and final goal early in the fourth period (off a pass from Raby) for the final, official Newtown score. Eric Martenson scored a goal late in the fourth period (it would have been his first of the season after coming back from an ankle injury) but it was wiped off the board for a stick violation.

Nevertheless, the victory was in hand. Newtown outshot St. Joseph’s 35-18 while ‘Hawk goalies Shawn Gleason and Brad Bernstein combined to make 11 saves. Dan Arsenault of Newtown, playing for St. Joseph’s, scored two goals.

On Tuesday, the ‘Hawks dropped a tough 9-7 loss to Hand of Madison despite rallying back from a 9-2 halftime deficit. The ‘Hawks scored one goal in the third quarter and four more in the fourth quarter to get back into the game.

But not back in far enough.

Saunders scored three goals while D’Agostino, Kirch, Conlon and Hamilton all scored one goal. Drew Narcum, Saunders, Hamilton, and Sullivan earned one assist each. Gleason and Bernstein combined for 13 saves.

The ‘Hawks hosted Danbury on Thursday and, on Monday, will host Fitch in a 5:15 pm game. The boys will remain home on Wednesday, May 3, for a 4 pm contest against Fairfield Prep.