Newtown Field Hockey Coach Sees Plenty Of Positives In Defeat
Newtown Field Hockey Coach Sees Plenty Of Positives In Defeat
By Andy Hutchison
Several members of the Newtown High School field hockey team either saw limited or no varsity team playing time and played much of last season on the junior varsity squad. The step up to the varsity ranks was a big one given the nature of Newtownâs first two opponents: always-tough South-West Conference foe New Fairfield and perennial Class L state tournament title contenders, the Pomperaug Panthers.
Despite falling 3-0 to visiting New Fairfield, at Treadwell Park, in the season opener on Friday, September 16, Newtown Coach Amanda Hadgraft saw some positive signs for her Nighthawks.
âThis is first time any of them have played together. I mean we had no scrimmages and no play days, so for their being on the field together for the first time ever â it looked really nice,â Hadgraft said.
âThey meld well together, they play as a team â especially when they start talking,â the coach added. âThe passingâs there, theyâre open for each other â obviously we need to finish in the circle and get some scores in, but the things we need to tweak are small, little skill things.â
The Hawks visited Pomperaug in Southbury and again were shut out, falling 2-0, on Tuesday, September 20.
Newtownâs first two opponents may be among the toughest the Hawks will see this season, but thatâs not to say the slate will get that much easier. âWe play in a pretty competitive league, which is nice,â said Hadgraft, acknowledging that the regular doses of tough competition stands to improve her team over the course of the campaign.
Newtown will host Lauralton Hall of Milford, a team that won ten games and lost just once in regulation last year, at 4 pm at Treadwell Park on Friday, September 23. Newtown has yet to play a New Milford team, which beat Pomperaug, and will have rematches with all three of those always-challenging SWC teams, New Fairfield, Pomperaug, and New Milford, in succession in late October. The schedule also includes a potentially challenging out-of-conference team as a Haddam Killingworth team that won 11 games a year ago visits in October.