NHS Skaters Go Down Fighting In Playoffs

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s hockey team had a memorable start to its playoff season with a South-West Conference Tournament semifinal round win on March 1. Then came a setback to the conference title game two days later. Newtown’s postseason continued with the state playoffs on March 5, where the Nighthawks experienced the ups and downs of near triumph and, ultimately, defeat — losing hold of a late lead and falling in overtime.

The Nighthawks, mere seconds away from winning their first round Division II state playoff game, fell 4-3 to the Milford co-op team in overtime at Milford Ice Pavilion, ending an overall rewarding campaign for the program which was in its first season at the D-II level.

Newtown entered into the state bracket — boasting a 12-8 regular season mark — as the No. 11 seed and as slight underdogs against the sixth-seeded (12-7) Milford co-op team. The Hawks, despite losing top-line centerman Christian Blais to a shoulder-area injury early on in the contest, battled back from a 2-0 deficit to take the lead with 2:10 to play. Milford, however, knotted the score with just 25 seconds left, and won the game only 38 ticks into overtime to end Newtown’s season.

“When we were up 3-2 I knew we weren’t safe. I knew something could possibly happen there,” said Newtown Coach Paul Esposito, whose team’s plan was to get the puck deep and play defensively in the waning minutes.

It didn’t work out that way. Goals by Parker Rodbell, Ted Benoit, and Evan Isaacs, and some strong goaltending by Mike Allwein weren’t enough to overcome Milford on this night. Milford evened the score when TJ Olsson scored on a rebound inside the final half minute, and won it on William Vitelli’s tally moments into OT.

Newtown was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and game outcomes during the past chock-full-of-playoff-excitement week.

Seeded fourth in the South-West Conference Tournament, the Hawks upset top-ranked Watertown-Pomperaug, 3-2 in semifinal round action at Danbury Ice Arena on March 1. With the win, the Nighthawks advanced to the March 3 championship game against No. 2 Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury (BBD).

The Nighthawks avenged last year’s conference tourney loss to Watertown-Pomperaug by holding on in a nail-biting finish.

Rodbell, Brett Klein, and Benoit all scored, and Allwein made 22 saves to send the Nighthawks one step — make that stride — from an SWC title.

“It feels great,” Esposito said after the win. “We were expecting a tough game and the kids prevailed tonight.”

Rodbell opened the scoring with a first-period power play goal, assisted by defenseman Matt Sabia and Blais. The Hawks took a 2-0 second-period lead when Klein found the back of the net (Chris Erikson had the lone helper). Watertown-Pomperaug sliced the lead in half before the end of the middle stanza, but the Hawks reclaimed their two-goal edge less than two minutes into the third. Benoit, assisted by Blais and Sabia, lit the lamp with what turned out to be the game winner.

“It feels amazing,” Benoit said. “We came in so fired up. We knew it was our game.”

It was a game for the taking for much of the night. Watertown-Pomperaug, which outshot Newtown 24-19, applied heavy pressure in the final minutes in attempts to tie the score.

Newtown had beaten Watertown-Pomperaug 4-1 early in the regular season, but the Hawks’ foes had finished the season with seven wins in its last ten games. The NHS skaters also recalled last year’s conference tourney departure. “Last year they knocked us out. It’s good to get revenge obviously,” Klein said.

The Nighthawks skated into the finals looking for a little more redemption. They have fallen to BBD in overtime three times — including in this past regular season — in the past few years.

No such luck this time around. Newtown fell 5-1 in the conference championship game as Sabia had the lone NHS goal. Esposito noted that the Hawks came out strong but failed to take the early lead, in part, because of some bad bounces. BBD scored first on a goal in transition following a deflected shot. “We were really taking it to ’em. It deflated the tires a little bit,” Esposito said of falling behind early on.

Newtown trailed for the entire night despite a valiant effort. “I think we played very well for most of the game. We just didn’t get any bounces. We struggled on the power play,” Esposito said.

A would-be icing call, negated when the puck stopped in a puddle, led to one BBD goal, and several pucks went through the crease but didn’t find the net when the Hawks were on the attack, the coach added.

Newtown entered into the state tourney looking to feed of the taste of success it had in the SWC tourney’s opening round.

“It’s the best time of the year,” Rodbell said. “It’s so intense. Everyone just goes so hard — there’s so much at stake.”

Blais believed the team was at its best in these pressure — win or go home — situations. “We get more focused and we get back to the basics,” he said of how the players handle playoff hockey.

Allwein, one of seven seniors in the lineup, was one of the many Hawks looking to win a championship.

“It just comes down to the end of four years together. We have that little chip on our shoulder that we want to do something special before we go on,” the goaltender said after the playoff-opening win on March 1.

As disappointing as the finish to the season may be for Newtown, the campaign can be deemed a success as a whole, Esposito notes.

“We’re happy with it. Obviously a few bounces could have gone our way here or there during certain games that could have turned the season. We had high goals this year. It didn’t pan out the way we thought it was going to — some tough overtime losses, faced some injuries here or there,” the coach said. “It’s not what we wanted but, at the same time, we’re not totally disappointed with how we did.”

Esposito, who has coached many of the seniors since their squirt hockey days several years ago, will miss the final-year high schoolers. “I’ll miss ’em. They’re almost like little brothers to me so it’s definitely an emotional time for me,” the coach said.