No Contest For Nighthawk Lacrosse Teams In Early Going

By Andy Hutchison

The six-time defending South-West Conference champion girls and the perennial conference title-contending boys from Newtown are proving to be quite the handful early on in 2011. Both lacrosse teams disposed of their first two opponents in convincing fashion.

The girls routed Brookfield 16-7 and Stratford 17-2, and the boys toppled Brookfield 20-3 and blanked Stratford 20-0 in week one.

The girls, in their win over Brookfield, got hat-tricks from Kaitlin Brophy, Meaghan Carney, and Meredith Bridges. Brophy also had three assists to lead her team with six points. Against Stratford, Brophy used a different combination to again log six points, finding the net four times and her team-mates with assists twice. Carney added three goals. Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said the defense contributed eight ground ball scoops, four interceptions, and created seven turnovers. Goaltenders Celeste Cheung and Jill Jagoe each made a pair of saves against the young Stratford group.

Newtown’s girls’ squad, following Thursday’s scheduled game at New Milford (after The Bee went to press) will have three straight home contests, as Lauralton Hall of Milford, nonconference foe New Canaan, and Bethel visit April 18, 19, and 26.

The boys’ team, like the girls’ squad, was clicking on all cylinders from the get-go.

“We came out with great energy in that first game and that’s really what we wanted to do from the start and, basically, we feel we have the ability to play with any team — so if we can come with that effort level we’re going to be a tough team to beat” Coach Glenn Adams said.

In the opening win over Brookfield, at Blue and Gold Stadium on April 9, the Nighthawks passed the ball with precision and efficiency to keep their opponents off-balance.

“We really just moved the ball well,” Adams said. “We have six guys out there on offense and anyone of them could be the guy that can take the shot or make that pass.”

The schedule stands to get a tougher. Following Thursday’s scheduled clash with New Milford (after The Bee went to press), Newtown will visit Conard in a nonconference game on April 16, and will host defending Class S state runners-up St Joseph of Trumbull on April 21.

Adams says his team will need to maintain its mental focus throughout games — regardless of the spread. Despite the lopsided outcome, he was not thrilled with how his team allowed a few goals to Brookfield, blaming mental lapses for the tallies against his squad. “That could be the difference in a close game, between a win and a loss,” Adams said.

In the Brookfield game, Newtown was led by Trey Trudell, who notched five goals and three assists for a whopping eight points. Colby Summerlin and Justin Brophy each scored four times in the triumph.

Against Stratford, Lewis Thompson registered four goals and five assists for nine points, and Will Northrop and Dan Sclafani both scored three times.

Brendan McNamara and Will Fletcher led the Hawks with six and five groundballs, respectively, and goaltenders Brandon Body and Ted Benoit combined for seven saves.