Led by Phil Makris, who scored a hat trick and had two assists, logging his 100th career point in the process, the Newtown-New Fairfield high school co-op hockey team shut out the Joel Barlow-Weston-Abbott Tech team 6-0 at Danbury Ice Arena, March 20, in a win to begin the playoffs.

The Newtown-New Fairfield team, seeded third in the Southern Connecticut/South-West Conference Division III tournament, defeated the sixth-seeded Barlow squad for the third time this winter, most recently in the quarterfinals of the tourney.

Makris opened the scoring with a shorthanded tally, assisted by Gio Cucco and Ronan McAllister, and added an unassisted net-finder as well as one set up by McAllister.

Senior defenseman Eli Kirby notched his first goal of the season, assisted by Makris. James Celentano had an unassisted tally, and Tyler DiMartino was set up by Makris for a goal.

Goaltender Markus Paltauf stopped all 30 shots he faced; Newtown-New Fairfield logged 17 shots on goal.

With the triumph, the Nighthawks advanced to face second-seeded Milford in the semifinals on Thursday, March 25 for a right to play in the Saturday, March 27, championship game. The semifinal game will take place at Milford Ice Pavilion at 8 pm.

Milford defeated Newtown-New Fairfield 3-1 early this season.