DANBURY - If the team's playoff efforts are any indication of what's to come, watch out for Newtown High School's hockey team next winter.

The Nighthawks, coming off a 3-2 loss to New Fairfield-Immaculate of Danbury (NFI) - the top seed in the state's Division III bracket - in the South-West Conference tournament semifinals, battled hard but dropped a 4-1 decision to Housatonic-Northwestern in the first round of the Division III state playoffs at Danbury Ice Arena, on March 7.

The seventh-seeded Nighthawks (11-9 in the regular season) surrendered a goal less than three minutes after the initial puck drop, and allowed a goal just 22 seconds into the second period, and couldn't come back despite a valiant effort by a young, growing lineup. Housatonic-Northwestern is the No. 10 seed, but the bracket is a bit deceptive; Newtown lost 7-3 to this same lineup in the regular-season finale.

After falling behind in the state opener, the Hawks - who have just four seniors on the roster - rattled off five unanswered shots on goal, but couldn't get the puck past goaltender Matthew Murray (who himself appears to have some good years ahead being that he's a freshman).

Scott McLean leaped to glove a clearing attempt then somehow, as he fell to the ice, slid the puck to David Brestovansky, who was denied in close on a bid to knot the score.

Newtown goalie Kyle Murphy made successive saves from point-blank range late in the first to keep Newtown within a goal going to the middle stanza.

After the Mountaineers struck to make it 2-0 on their first shot on goal of the second, the Nighthawks killed off a pair of mid-period penalties before generating some quality scoring chances. Top line player Brestovansky, a freshman, off another McLean feed, clanked one off the cross bar with approximately two minutes to go in the period.

With his team unable to generate much traffic near the goal, Newtown Coach Paul Esposito shook things up a bit, moving defenseman Scott Bauer up to wing to get a big body in front of the net, and slid physical third-line centerman Jiyei Hawke onto the second line.

"We were trying to generate some momentum there with that," the coach said.

The chances kept coming as defenseman Sean Ferris had blasts from the point that were stopped, and McLean, Domenic Cartelli, and Brestovansky worked the puck well to create quality scoring chances.

Newtown held a 20-12 shots on goal advantage early in the third, but couldn't capitalize.

Housatonic-Northwestern scored 4:26 into the third to stretch the lead to 3-0. Newtown didn't break up the shutout until, with Murphy pulled, extra attacker Matt Pelisson, senior, scored off assists from Ferris and McLean with just 1:07 to go. The Hawks kept the pressure on, but Murray came up with one more save and an empty-netter sealed it with 29 seconds to go.

The Nighthawks finished the game with a 23-19 shots on goal advantage.

"Their goalie played a great game. We just weren't able to get the bounces tonight," Esposito said. "It wasn't our night tonight. I thought the kids played hard."

Esposito thought his team had its best game of the season in the March 2 loss to NFI in the SWC playoffs at Milford Ice Pavilion.

McLean and Lucas O'Brien each lit the lamp in the SWC playoff game. In their January 13 matchup with New Fairfield-Immaculate, the Hawks were beaten 5-0. The Nighthawks had an impressive turnaround in the rematch.

"That was the best game of the season for us," said Esposito, noting that everybody skated hard from start to finish.

"We were hoping that was going to carry into tonight," the coach said after the state playoff game.

Esposito said his Hawks needed to do a better job of getting to the net to generate more chances. He believes the team has to focus hard on offseason training to build strength in order to go deeper in the postseason.

"We need to be a stronger, tougher team," the coach said.

With so many of the regulars in the lineup expected back for at least one more season (there are nine freshmen, seven sophomores, and ten juniors on the roster), Esposito is hopeful hard work in the spring, summer, and fall leads to success on the ice next winter.

"We have a very bright future," he said.