Trailing visiting Bunnell of Stratford 1-0 with the second-half clock ticking away, the Newtown High School boys' soccer team's South-West Conference playoff chances were slipping away as well.

Then came a goal — and another, followed by yet one more for insurance as the Nighthawks rallied for a shocking 3-1 victory at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 15.

Three goals in the span of 2:59. It was like a dam breaking after the water had been pushing too hard for too long. The Nighthawks peppered Bunnell with pressure and persistence finally paid off. Jonah Kaiser knocked in a rebound after one last attempt by the proverbial dam — the right goal post — and the flood gates officially opened.

Aiden Jennings' left side corner kick set up Kaio Dos Santos, whose shot hit the post before Kaiser cleaned up with 9:18 remaining in the contest.

Another left side CK by Jennings was headed from the far side to the middle by Kaiser, where Kaio Dos Santos finished for a sudden 2-1 lead with 7:40 left. Newtown added one more during the flow of game play when Kaio Dos Santos scored off an assist from Kauan Dos Santos with 6:19 left.

"Amazing feeling," NHS Coach Tony Viscuso said.

"There are games where we're clearly the better team and the ball just won't go in the net," the Newtown coach added. "It's been very difficult for us to break them down."

Viscuso credits Kaiser, a senior captain, for a motivational speech that got the team going at halftime.

"His speech was amazing," said Viscuso, summarizing by saying it was basically a matter of this being Kaiser's last season and that he did not want to miss qualifying for the conference playoffs. There was still work to be done. Newtown visited Joel Barlow of Redding on October 20 and fell 2-1. That loss, coupled with wins by other teams vying for one of the final couple of conference playoff spots (eight teams get in), significantly hurt Newtown's chances. Newtown's fate was to be determined in games that were to have been played Thursday night (after The Bee went to press) with the Nighthawks needing a win and some outside help.

NHS goes into the last day of the regular campaign, Thursday, October 22, in tenth place with 18 points, two points behind three teams: Bassick of Bridgeport and Immaculate, which were tied for the seventh and eighth positions, and Barlow. Newtown needs a win, worth three points, over Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport, a loss by Barlow to Bunnell, and for Bassick and Immaculate to not finish in a tie (a tie would give those teams one point each and they both hold the head-to-head tiebreaker edge over Newtown). With everything breaking in Newtown's favor, the Hawks would jump over two of those three teams competing for the last two playoff spots. The Hawks host Kolbe at Blue & Gold Stadium at 6 pm

Regardless of what happens, the emergence of Kaio Dos Santos, a sophomore, has Viscuso excited about what is ahead the rest of this fall — including in the state playoffs — and beyond. "Kaio Dos Santos is our future. The kid's an unbelievable talent," the coach said.

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