Sharp Skaters — NHS Hockey Team Wins First State Playoff Game

By Andy Hutchison

DANBURY — There was a special feeling surrounding the Newtown High School hockey team on March 8 — in more ways than one.

The Nighthawks, driven by strong special teams efforts, won their first state playoff game in three tries in their nine-year history.

Newtown, the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 10 Joel Barlow of Redding 4-0 in the first round of the Division III State Playoffs. With the win, the Hawks advanced to Thursday’s quarterfinal round game against No. 2 Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury (after The Bee went to press).

The Nighthawks (13-6-1 in the regular season) had split a pair of regular-season tilts with Barlow (8-11-1) but came through in their most important matchup of the campaign.

“We knew we would have our work cut out for us, so it feels great,” NHS Coach Paul Esposito said.

Rob Norling had three points on a goal and two assists and goaltender Dylan Deselin was sharp in a 17-save performance to earn the shutout.

Newtown broke open a 1-0 game with a pair of second-period goals, including a power play tally by Norling. Newtown outshot Barlow 11-4 in the middle period to seize control of the game and finished with 31-17 shots on goal advantage.

In the third, Newtown killed off a 5-on-3 Barlow power play for 1:27 to deny the Falcons any chance to come back.

Newtown moved the puck around well to generate scoring chances while on the advantage and cashed in with a pair of power play goals.

“The power play was good and the penalty kill was good, too. We just iced the puck every time to kill off all the penalties,” Norling said.

“We were prepared. We worked on the penalty killing and power play all week,” Esposito added.

The Nighthawks snapped a scoreless tie when Evan Isaacs crashed the net and deposited a rebound goal with just 59.1 seconds left in the opening stanza. Norling and Sean Kennedy earned assists on the ice-breaking goal.

Barlow nearly answered before the first period ended, but Deselin made a save and Alex Kelly blocked a follow-up shot to preserve the lead.

“The defense was just amazing tonight,” Deselin said. “Less than 20 shots, clearing every single rebound, covering me — especially Alex Kelly. That was one heck of a play by him.”

In the second, Newtown struck for a 2-0 lead 4:02 into the period when Josh Branchflower slid a pass to Brett Klein who put a low shot past Barlow netminder Trevor Hirst. Less than three minutes later, Norling fired a blast through a screen in front on the power play to make it 3-0. Klein and David Landau assisted the goal.

In the third, Landau registered a power play goal, assisted by Hunter Dolyak and Norling, to cap the scoring.

“It feels really good to be a part of it,” Norling said of Newtown getting its first state playoff win. Norling, along with Klein, transferred to NHS from Immaculate High in Danbury this winter.

Esposito was thrilled with the play of everybody in this effort.

“Our third line really came through when we needed them to give the first [two] lines a breather,” the coach added.

The Bethel-Brookfield-Danbury matchup looked like a good one both on paper and based on prior results.

The teams skated to a hard-fought 3-3 tie in the regular season and both teams had 13 wins this year. Esposito expected a tough game but entered the game confident that his team could get the job done.

“We’ll be ready for them,” Esposito said.