Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team advanced in the South-West Conference tournament, defeating host Weston 1-0 in the quarterfinal round, on October 31. Maddie Pirone one-timed a cross from Emma Curtis with just 2:08 remaining in the opening half, for what proved to be the decisive goal.

The sixth-seeded Nighthawks held on to upset the No. 3 Trojans thanks, in part, to some clutch saves by goalkeeper Meghan Doyle. Weston threatened to even the game about midway through the second half, but Doyle dove to her left to deny a chance on a Trojan counter attack following a Newtown corner kick. Doyle charged out to challenge Weston’s Katie Orefice, and broke up a great Weston opportunity with about 12:30 left.

Newtown Coach Marc Kenney, to counter Weston’s offensive push, dropped players back to help out defensively. He moved forward Sarah Houle back to center midfield, and pushed defender Alana Murray back to the stopper role. Kenney also noted that defender Maddy Sieber did an outstanding job marking Weston standout striker Charlotte Cenatiempo.

With the win, Newtown moves on to face second-seeded New Milford in the semifinals. The teams will clash at neutral site Joel Barlow of Redding on Tuesday, November 3, beginning at 5 pm.

OT Heartbreak For Field Hockey Team

Despite significantly outshooting Bethel and finishing with a decisive advantage in penalty corner opportunities, Newtown High’s field hockey team dropped a tough 1-0 double overtime decision in the SWC quarterfinals, at neutral site Immaculate High in Danbury, on October 31.

Bethel’s Morgan Matthews scored just 1:03 into the second ten-minute extra session; she was assisted by Sam Segiet. Bethel, the third seed in the bracket, had beaten Newtown, the tourney’s sixth seed, twice in the regular season.

Newtown goaltender Natalie Shaker, because of her team’s strong defense and the possession control by the offense, needed to make only one save in regulation. She made a trio of big stops during the 7-on-7 overtime. The Nighthawks put ten shots on Bethel goalie Kallan Hook, and generated ten penalty corners.

Opponent For Boys’ Booters

The third-seeded Newtown High’s boys’ soccer team, which defeated New Fairfield in the SWC quarterfinals on October 30, found out its semifinal-round opponent: No. 2 Joel Barlow, which got past No. 7 Brookfield 4-3 in penalty kicks after ovetime.

Newtown and Barlow will meet on Monday, October 2, beginning at 5 pm; the game will take place at neutral site Weston High. During the regular season, the Nighthawks and Falcons faced each other twice, and Newtown won both times, including in the regular season finale, on October 26. Both games were one-goal battles.