By Kim J. Harmon

Things had been too well for it to end like that – but end it did as the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team suffered a bitter, 1-0, loss to New Fairfield in the quarter-finals of the South-West Conference tournament.

About nine minutes into the first half, Kelly Peck scored the lone goal of the game on a blast off the hands of freshman goaltender Kate Fenton (who was subbing in for an injured Allison Smith) and sent the Lady Rebels – not the Nighthawks – on to the semi-finals to face Joel Barlow.

The ‘Hawks – who had fallen to Brookfield, 2-1, in the final game of the regular season just two days before – dropped to 12-4-0 on the season. All that is left now is to wait for the CIAC Class LL pairings and schedule.

The fact that it was going to be a tough game was not lost on the Nighthawks. Back on September 29, the two teams got tangled up in a fierce battle that did not end until Carrie Lipnick punched home the game’s only goal in sudden death overtime.

And it was the work of New Fairfield goaltender Stephanie Doyle which perplexed the ‘Hawks so much.

The ‘Hawks had an early opportunity to take a lead in the game on Saturday night – which was the first of an SWC tournament doubleheader also featuring the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team (see related story). But sophomore striker Chelsea Morin, who leads the team with 23 goals, couldn’t push home a shot against Doyle.

New Fairfield kept up the pressure on into the second half, but the ‘Hawks still had a few more opportunities to score – from a hard charge down the left wing by Caroline Kunkel to a couple of direct kicks from Alex Helfer and chip shots by Mary Anders – but the Lady Rebels turned them away.

In other SWC quarter-final action last weekend, Joel Barlow defeated Lauralton Hall, 1-0, while Brookfield defeated Weston, 3-0, and Masuk defeated Foran, 3-1. In semi-final action, Joel Barlow beat New Fairfield, 5-2, while Brookfield shocked top-seeded Masuk, 2-0.

The finals are slated for Penders Field in Stratford on Friday night.

Overtime Loss

It was a tough, hard-nosed battle and it looked – on into the second half – that there would be no victor in the final regular season game. But late in the half, Morgan Haines grabbed a pass from Morin and beat Brookfield goaltender Erika Bohn to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 1-0.

But with four minutes left, Bohn came up from her position to take a direct kick and beat goaltender Christina Wolf for the tying goal. In overtime, Sarah Culbreath tallied the winner off a nice cross from Dara Samuel.