By Kim J. Harmon

FAIRFIELD – Through the first six games of the season, the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team sent an unmistakable message to rest of the South-West Conference – they may be young, but they sure can play.

But after a 2-1 loss to Joel Barlow last Thursday night at Blue & Gold Stadium the ‘Hawks had to amend that message just a little bit – they may be young, but they sure can play . . . and yet they are not immune to playing a bad game.

The ‘Hawks had rolled through their first two games to open the season, with their cadre of sophomores and freshmen showing the rest of the SWC what they are all about. Then a 3-2 win over Lauralton Hall, a 1-0 overtime win over New Fairfield, and a 2-1 win over Bethel further ratified the notion that this team was good.

Really good.

But not invincible.

The ‘Hawks have a sharp, attacking style of play with a superb defense and strong midfield and yet they got suckered into playing a kick-and-chase style of soccer last Thursday night against the Lady Falcons.

The ‘Hawks were ill-suited for that style and it hurt them.

Early on, the ‘Hawks did dominate the action – playing their style. But the tide subtly shifted somewhere midway through the first half and head coach Rupert de los Reyes was pacing the sidelines wondering why his team was struggling so much.

Even so, with 12:09 left in the half sophomore Chelsea Morin received a nice through ball from Kate Stickles, dodged a defender marking close, and muscled a ball through Barlow goaltender Laurel Peak – through in the literal sense of the word, as Morin all but pushed the ball right through her over the end line.

That play knocked Peak out of the game.

The goal might have put Newtown ahead, 1-0, but Barlow still seemed to be in control of the game. With 35:57 left to play in the second half, the ‘Hawks dodged their first bullet when a free ball bounded into the penalty area right to the foot of a Barlow striker, who missed an almost sure goal when she rifled a shot over the top of the cross bar.

But with 31:55 left to play, Lara Batey punched a hard shot from about 20 yards out that Newtown goaltender Allison Smith saved – at first. It was a hard line drive that Smith knocked down with both hands, but once she moved to gain control of the ball it rolled behind her into the net.

With the score tied at 1-1, the Lady Falcons really took charge. They seemed to be getting to all the free balls and were working the kick-and-chase style pretty well. With 9:05 left in the half, Smith made another nice stop on a centering ball but Jaclyn Pancotti was there to gather in the rebound and pound it into the net to give Barlow the 2-1 lead.

Barlow had lost its first game of the season just two nights before and were looking to rebound. The ‘Hawks rebounded from their 2-1 loss to Barlow by pounding Notre Dame (8-0) on Friday and Immaculate (6-1) on Tuesday to raise their record to 7-1-0.

In the win over Notre Dame – shortly before coach de los Reyes brought his team on a tour of the local state police barracks for a career-oriented program – Morin scored three more goals to give herself 13 for the season. Alex Helfer, Kim Helfer, Allison Frobey and Mary Anders also scored in the rout.

Kate Fenton had a nice throw-in and Stickles a nice touch pass to Morin for the first goal. A strong throw-in by Frobey led to Alex Helfer’s goal and Anders’ hard shot led to Morin’s second goal as Newtown took a 4-0 lead into the half.

Crosses by Morgan Haines to Kim Helfer and from Alex Helfer to Morin helped put Newtown ahead, 6-0. Later, defender Kelley Haines – brought up front to work on the offensive side of the field – chipped in her first goal of the season and then Frobey scored her first on a penalty kick.

Anders finished off the scoring with a strong left-footed shot.

In the win over Immaculate, Anders had her finest game yet when she scored three goals and assisted on three others. Morin added a pair of goals – her 14th and 15th – and recorded one assist to help fuel the offense. Carrie Lipnick also scored and Caroline Kunkel registered an assist.

Cradling their 7-1-0 record, the ‘Hawks hosted Foran on Thursday (after press time) in a 7 pm game at Treadwell Park. On Monday, the ‘Hawks will visit Masuk for a 7 pm game and then on Thursday, October 18, will host Pomperaug in a 7 pm game at Blue & Gold Stadium.