Laxwomen Vie For Another SWC Title

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ lacrosse team has gotten used to winning. When it comes to competition in the South-West Conference, the team has gotten accustomed to dominating.

The Nighthawks are in search of their fifth straight SWC title this spring and will have to do so without leading scorer Courtney Gleason, goaltender Lisa Isabella, Jen O’Connell and Libby Feltch — all of whom graduated.

That might not stop the Nighthawks — after all, the team successfully kept its run of championships alive following the loss of six graduates the year before.

“Our goal is to play in the SWC championship game and perform well in the state like we did last year,” Coach Maura Fletcher said.

The Nighthawks reached the quarterfinal round of the Division I state tourney a year ago and, as the No. 4 seed, lost to No. 5 East Lyme (a team the Nighthawks beat by a goal during the regular season). The Hawks went 22-3 when all was said and done last spring.

The senior captains this year are attack players Jackie Isabella and Betsy Vendel, along with goaltender Marnie Thompson.

Other key players back in the mix are junior midfielder Lisa Vendel, junior defender Annie Fletcher, sophomore midfielder Caitlin Brophy and sophomore defender Kelly O’Connor. Junior Meghan Bridges, an attack/midfield player, returns after missing all of last year with an ACL injury.

The Nighthawks were scheduled to open the season on Thursday (after The Bee went to press) against nonconference opponent Cheshire on the road and will visit Notre Dame-Fairfield on Saturday before playing their first home game, April 13 against Bunnell at Treadwell Park.

The Nighthawks will host the only two teams to beat them in the regular season a year ago, nonconference foes Wilton (April 25) and Glastonbury (May 7). The only teams in the SWC Newtown didn’t blow out last year were New Milford (a 14-12 win) and Brookfield (16-12). The Hawks will host Brookfield on April 15 and visit New Milford on April 27.