Newtown High School’s boys soccer team carries a win-loss-tie South-West Conference record of 9-1-2 and overall mark of 10-2-2 into Thursday’s SWC regular-season finale at Pomperaug of Southbury at 7 pm and a Saturday, October 18, visit to South Windsor at 10:30 am as the team gears up for the start of postseason play.

South Windsor is seventh in Class LL with a record of 11-1-2. The Hawks (ninth in Class LL) are coming off a 2-0 setback to visiting Xavier of Middletown (ranked fourth in LL at 12-1-1) on October 11 and a 1-1 tie with SWC rival Bethel (also 9-1-2) at home on October 14; Jonah Kaiser scored on a penalty kick against Bethel. Newtown, after rolling over most of the competition, is wrapping up the regular slate with a tough stretch of games, including a scoreless battle at Bunnell of Stratford on October 9. Heading into the final games, Bunnell (8-2-2) was chasing NHS, Bethel, and first-place Weston (10-2-0) for the top spot, with New Milford and Pomperaug looming, and all of these squads vying for a top-four finish and first-round conference playoff home tilt.

The nonconference matchups won’t impact SWC standings, but will factor into state tournament placement, all the while providing teams with playoff-like competition which stands to help prepare them for the postseason dances. Newtown prevailed 2-1 against Fairfield Prep (18th in Class LL), and NHS Coach Ryan Lyddy was pleased with the effort against Xavier.

Newtown trailed 1-0 at the half and had some chances to tie the score, including on a pair of Jeff Prout corner kicks. Noah Kooper had an in-close opportunity but was denied on a shot contested by the defense. Playmaker Ryan Payne had the best game of his career, the NHS coach said.

“We had our chances. We hung with ‘em — it wasn’t like it was a blowout,” Lyddy noted.

The Newtown coach believes these tough matchups will pay dividends when it matters most.

“Not too many people are nutty enough to put those three teams on the schedule,” Lyddy said of his opting to face Prep, Xavier, and South-Windsor. “The nice thing is we can compete against a high level.”

In the Bunnell game, the Hawks had some chances, and would have preferred a victory given some missed shots on goal. “It was one of those could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” Lyddy said.

Losing and settling for ties are not the worst things for a championship-hopeful team — that is, as long as it is in the regular season.

“You’ve got to have some adversity, some ups and downs,” Lyddy said.

The Hawks hope what goes down goes back up as they look to make a deep playoff run, perhaps all the way to the SWC and/or state pinnacle. Conference playoff action begins Monday, October 20 with the quarterfinals (opponent and game time to be determined).

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