The way in which Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team started each of its last two games certainly played a role in the victories, but it was strong second-half play that sparked wins at Stepinac of New York on April 13 and home against Weston on April 16.

The Nighthawks scored seven unanswered goals and held Stepinac scoreless in the fourth quarter to earn a 13-8 win.

Jeffrey Garrity returned from injury and scored five goals and had an assist. Tucker Garrity, also in his first game following injury, had a pair of goals and two assists, Brennan Mayer scored three times and added an assist, Aiden Coleman registered a goal and three assists, Brett Pierce scored a goal and added an assist, and Brandon Manka scored a goal.

Against South-West Conference foe Weston, the Nighthawks held a 4-3 lead at the half and went up 5-3 on Tucker Garrity’s net-finder, just 1:10 out of the break, on the way to a 9-5 triumph.

Penalties piled up on Weston. The Trojans managed to deny Newtown on a rare three-player advantage, but the Nighthawks scored moments after the teams were back at full strength. Mayer initiated contact with a hit in Weston’s defensive half of the field, jarred the ball loose, scooped, and scored his hat-trick goal for a 6-3 lead with 6:34 left in the third.

Less than a minute later, Connor Breslin’s move along the goal line, through traffic, led to his sharp-angle tally for a 7-3 cushion; that came with 5:38 left and following one of dominant faceoff specialist Tanner Stergue’s wins. Stergue won 14 of 15 draws, giving the Nighthawks possession throughout much of the contest.

A Weston goal and yet another penalty kill left things at 7-4 heading into the fourth.

Coleman netted two unanswered tallies just 22 seconds apart midway through the fourth to put the game out of reach. His first was off a nice feed from Mayer, with 7:18 to go. The last NHS goal, also a hat-trick tally for Coleman, was set up by Tucker Garrity. Weston scored late.

Tucker Garrity, Jeffrey Garrity, and Breslin each scored once. Mayer, Tucker Garrity, and Breslin all had two assists, and Jeffrey Garrity, Manka, and Will Swierbut all had helpers.

“This has been unconventional start to our season due to injuries and availability of players on both sides of the field. The last two wins are a reflection, at times, of what we can be once we get everyone healthy and on the same page. Understandably, we are out of sink at times due to limited reps. However, the one staple of this team is grit. We may not be pretty to watch at times, but this team is going scrap and fight for the entire game, and if you can take anything away from the last two wins, it’s that this group of kids is never going to stop playing hard,” Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley said.