By Kim J. Harmon

BROOKFIELD – In just 24 hours, a pendulum can swing pretty far.

That is a principle the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team discovered this week when it went from one extreme to another in splitting a pair of games.

On Monday, the ‘Hawks – a team on the mend after losing 14 seniors to graduation – suffered a humbling 20-0 loss to Cheshire . . . their first loss of the 2001 season. And on Tuesday, the ‘Hawks came back and pinned a handy 14-2 loss on Brookfield . . . a first-year team in the newly-formed South-West Conference.

The ‘Hawks are now 3-1 overall, 2-0 in the SWC.

There was little, if anything, to smile about in the loss to Cheshire. The Newtown-Cheshire rivalry had been a strong one for the past few years as both programs progressed at similar paces, but Newtown took too big a hit in the off-season to provide enough competition for the Lady Rams.

Coach Sara Patrick expected stuff like that would happen from time to time during the season.

And she also expected the ‘Hawks would have their fair share of easy wins . . . like they did on Tuesday under somewhat gloomy skies in Brookfield.

The Lady Bobcats were in a no-win situation. On top of this being their first year, the ‘Cats took just 12 players to the field on Tuesday and 11 of them played all 40 minutes.

The ‘Hawks took advantage.

Often.

Senior co-captain Erin McDonald had a field day, scoring seven goals on a weakened defense to lead the ‘Hawks to the 14-2 win. Those seven goals gave McDonald 13 for the season and 23 for her career.

She opened the scoring early off a shooting space and then came back after goals by Morgan Pacheco and Mary Bell to give the Nighthawks a 4-0 lead.

Brookfield answered with a goal of its own, but then Ellie Champagne, Bell, and Pacheco scored in quick succession to boost the Newtown lead to 7-1. McDonald kept the drive going with three consecutive goals and then Kelly Shpunt finished off the half with her first goal as Newtown went into the break with an 11-1 lead.

With the win sewn up, the ‘Hawks worked almost primarily on their motion offense – maintaining possession of the ball – and got a few pretty good looks at the cage. McDonald had the best shot attempt of the entire game when she raced into the middle, reached up high for a centering pass that came from behind the cage, and nearly managed to pull off a one-touch shot.

Even though that didn’t work, McDonald did score twice in the second half and Bell added another one – her third of the game – as the ‘Hawks simply coasted to the finish.

The ‘Hawks will try to keep their SWC record unblemished on Friday when they battle New Milford under the lights, at 7 pm, down in New Milford. The schedule, though, gets a little tougher after that as Newtown will travel to Middletown on Tuesday to take on Mercy (4 pm) and then travel to Madison on Saturday to take on Hand (1 pm).

But that will be the end of a five-game road trip. On Monday, April 30, the ‘Hawks will host Brookfield in a 7 pm game.