Strong Starts For Newtown High Lacrosse Teams

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams each have hard-fought and lopsided victories under their belts through one week of regular-season action.

The girls opened the campaign at nonconference foe Cheshire on April 9 and came away with a 16-15 win then, after a scheduled April 11 game at Notre Dame-Fairfield was rained out, the Nighthawks blanked Bunnell 18-0 at Treadwell Park on Monday afternoon.

The boys, meanwhile, blanked Notre Dame 17-0 in the season opener on April 9, came from behind in the second half to double up Sachem (N.Y.) East 10-5 in the rain on April 11 and pounded Bunnell 19-2 on Monday evening.

The girls are the four-time defending South-West Conference champions and have the goal of getting back to the championship game yet again. Given what Coach Maura Fletcher has seen, the Nighthawks certainly should have a chance to keep continue their winning ways.

Against Cheshire, Betsy Vendel led Newtown with 7 goals and 3 assists and Kaitlin Brophy added 4 goals and 3 assists. Meghan Bridges scored a goal and added 3 assists and Lisa Vendel scored twice and assisted another. With the score tied at 15, Annie Fletcher came up with an interception and set up Vendel’s game-winner with about three minutes to play.

In the win over Bunnell, Vendel added 4 goals and an assist, Brophy recorded 5 goals and set up 3 others and Erin Brown scored a goal and had 3 assists as nine Nighthawks logged net-finders. Goaltender Marnie Thompson recorded her first shutout.

“When we get playing our game we can really pull it out,” said Vendel, adding that the team, despite early-season winning ways, needs to improve on passing and its transition game.

“I still have a pretty young team,” said Coach Fletcher, pointing out that the Nighthawks have only four seniors, three of whom start.

Fletcher added that the wins serve as big confidence boosters, especially for the less-experienced players.

Bridges, a junior, is thrilled to be back on the playing field after missing a season with an ACL injury.

“It’s awesome. Last year it was hard watching,” said Bridges, adding, “I was still part of the team which is good.”

So far so good this spring.

“It means a lot,” Bridges said of being a part of a team that is considered among the favorites to win the conference again. “It makes me really happy knowing we’re still as good as we were.”

A year ago, the Nighthawks not only won the SWC crown, but also got all the way to the state tourney semifinals before falling to eventual champion Darien.

Things could not have started much better for the boys’ team, which has outscored its first three opponents a collective 46-7.

In the opener against Notre Dame, the Nighthawks got off to a quick start as Jacob Dauz grabbed control off the opening face-off and sprinted to the cage, finding an open Christian Beitel for a goal just 8 seconds into the season. The Newtown starters put together a 9-0 lead through one quarter of play. Dauz, Jaime Vavrek and Kyle O’Connor dominated the midfield, while attackmen Lewis Thompson (2 goals and 2 assists) Beitel (4 goals and 2 assists) and Kevin Canavan (3 goals and 2 assists) connected on more than 90 percent of their shots.

Newtown’s second offensive unit took over and didn’t miss a beat in the second quarter. Tim Dalton scored two goals — both set up by Ryan Korth.

Senior goalie Clarence Cheung was rarely tested, but made saves when needed as defenders Kyle McNamara, Max Nacewicz and Connor McNamara repeatedly broke up Notre Dame’s possessions.

In the second half, long-stick middies Jamie Bowers and John Grimaldi shut down Notre Dame in front of sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Body, who kept the shutout intact. Dylan Huebner scored a goal and Zack Dent netted his second of the game. Dan Clement finished off the scoring with two unassisted goals.

Newtown was tested, as anticipated, in a nonconference clash with Sachem East on the road. The Nighthawks overcame a 5-3 halftime deficit and shutout their opponent in the second half. Canavan had 6 goals, Vavrek notched 3 tallies and Dauz added a goal and 3 assists. Thompson and O’Connor both had a pair of assists.

In the 19-2 thumping of Bunnell at Stratford, Dan Clemet had 3 goals and an assist, Beitel scored twice and added 4 assists, Thompson registered a goal and had 4 assists, Canavan had 4 goals, Vavrek had 3 goals and Grimaldi came up with 8 ground balls. Cheung and Body each played a half and made 3 saves.