Newtown High School's girls' lacrosse team opened postseason play with a win on home turf, defeating visiting Brookfield 10-5 in the South-West Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Blue & Gold Stadium on May 20.

No. 3 Newtown advances to the next round and could end up visiting No. 2 Masuk of Monroe in the semis Thursday, May 22 or Friday, May 23. Masuk plays No. 7 Joel Barlow in the quarters. Brookfield was the No. 6 seed. All roads might end up traveling through top seed New Fairfield but first things first.

The Nighthawks had beaten Brookfield 14-2 during the regular slate but had a little tougher time pulling away in the rematch with something on the line. It was 6-2 at the half and the visiting Bobcats got the first goal of the third quarter, then had a chance to draw closer. The Nighthawks, after stops on defense, capitalized on winning the ground ball battle during a lengthy offensive possession when Gabby O'Sullivan scored on a critical scoring area goal with 3:18 left in the stanza.

Brookfield responded to pull to within 7-4 late in the third and that's the way things were heading into the fourth. Newtown reclaimed its four-goal cushion when Jen Socci netted one only 34 seconds into the final quarter. Abby Ihlefeld made it 9-4 midway through the period and Brooke Bulkley answered a late Brookfield goal to cap the scoring.

Natalie McLean scored a hat-trick, and Blake Heim-Sherwood and Socci each scored twice. Bulkely and Jenna Lagan had a pair of assists apiece. McLean recorded six draw controls and a trio of ground balls; Bulkley had three ground balls and two draw controls; Heim-Sherwood had a draw control and two ground balls to go along with an assist; Socci logged three ground balls and a draw control; and Ellla Macey had two grounders. Socci and Mo Murphy added interceptions to help defensively. Nighthawk goaltender Emily Sachs made seven saves.

Maura Fletcher, co-head coach, said the Bobcats face-guarded Bulkley which slowed Newtown's offensive flow. The Nighthawks overcame that to advance but did not have their best game and Fletcher is hopeful the Hawks turn it up a notch in the next round.

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