By Jake Burg

The second period is certainly one the Newtown hockey team would like to have back. After a solid opening period performance, the Hawks sputtered, and then ran out of steam, in a 6-2 loss on the road to the Sheehan Titans on Saturday. After a one-goal deficit by the end of the first period, Newtown succumbed to the fast and hard-hitting Titans, and they were outscored 3-1 in the second period. The loss drops Newtown’s record to 4-9.

Coming into the game, Newtown knew full well they would have to play hard against a solid 12-3 Sheehan team.

“Sheehan is known for it’s intense physical play, and so we knew we were going to have to take it to them,” Newtown head coach Paul Esposito said.

Initially, the Nighthawks built off of their great defensive efforts from their win against Masuk on February 6 (see related story on page B-1). With regular starter Mitch Bloomberg back in the net, Newtown looked poised to stage an upset.

“We decided to use a new defensive strategy,” Esposito said. “It was a last minute change, which we modeled after Bethel, who had had some success against Sheehan last season.”

That change paid off early. While the puck went back and forth between the Sheehan and Newtown sticks, Newtown’s defense always remained strong. Newtown’s offense created a few opportunities in front of the net, but Sheehan capitalized first. Five minutes into the first period, Titans’ player Vinnie Nguyen slipped the puck past Bloomberg’s right skate for a 1-0 lead.

After that first score, Newtown effectively shut down the Titan offense. Defenders Max Beitel and Ryan Lasher delivered some hard hits for the Hawks, and several times they prevented Sheehan from controlling the puck for long in Newtown’s zone.

Newtown’s Christian Beitel rocketed a shot on goal which deflected to Matt Wright’s stick for the easy goal. With momentum on their side, the Nighthawks continued to try and keep pace with the faster Sheehan skaters.

By the end of the period, fatigue set in, and Sheehan quickly took advantage. After collecting the puck behind their own net, Sheehan worked it up the ice quickly. With Bloomberg’s view blocked by another Titan player, Sheehan reclaimed the lead.

Then the troubles came for Newtown.

“During the second period we came out okay, because we scored in the first period. But in the second our forechecking died down and we had some defensive lapses,” Esposito said.

Those lapses were what cost Newtown dearly in an otherwise hard fought game. Still, the second period began on a positive note for the Hawks as Graham Moller’s wraparound attempt was denied but Wright was waiting in the wings and he drove the puck into the net to knot the game at two.

After that, Newtown had trouble collecting any loose rebounds. Despite getting off some great shot attempts throughout the rest of the period, a lack of support around the net hurt Newtown’s scoring opportunities.

The defense began to make mistakes in the second period, and more pressure was put on goalie Bloomberg. Only a few minutes after Newtown celebrated tying the game, Sheehan came back to take the lead. The fight became one-sided after that go-ahead goal. Not even two minutes later and Sheehan came back with yet another goal to expand the lead to 4-2.

Opportunities presented themselves early and often in the period for Newtown, but they failed to capitalize on all of them. Heading toward the end of the period, a tired Nighthawk defensive line gave way to Sheehan’s third goal of the period.

“Going into the final period down three goals, you hope to get a goal right out of the gate,” Esposito said.

For the Nighthawks, that plan didn’t pan out. While they stepped up their defensive efforts, the offense continued to sputter on the ice.

Max Beitel got in some great hits, knocking Sheehan players all over the ice, but the Titans continued to skate just as hard and play just as physical. Newtown played exponentially more aggressively in the third period, amounting 25 hits in that period alone.

“Max [Beitel], Rocco [Guaragno], Braeden [Conlan], and Ryan [Lasher] all played their best game yet, despite the score,” Esposito said after the game.

With Newtown’s defense tired, and their offense playing lethargically, Sheehan chipped in one last goal with under a minute left to cap off a 6-2 win. Despite this tough loss, Newtown remains optimistic about its state playoff chances.

“In our minds, we outplayed Sheehan in the first and third periods. And we’ve definitely played our best hockey these past two games, despite this loss,” Esposito said. “The guys are ready for the next two weeks, and we hope to play spoiler in the Division III playoffs.”

Newtown skates again on Friday against the E.O. Smith/Tolland/Windham team, at E.O. Smith Rink.