Nighthawks Unbeaten Versus SWC Foes

The Newtown High School girls lacrosse team, following two convincing wins and one nail-biting effort in their last three games, remains undefeated in South-West Conference play. The Nighthawks are 7-0 in the conference and 8-2 overall.

The Hawks dominated Notre Dame-Fairfield 17-3 on April 22, edged New Milford 14-12 on April 24 and had their way with the Bunnell/Stratford co-op team, 21-1 this past Saturday. That marked the Nighthawks’ second 21-goal outburst of the spring; Newtown beat Joel Barlow 21-9 on April 17.

The team’s only losses were to ranked Connecticut teams (an 11-5 setback to No. 2 Wilton and a 14-8 loss to No. 5 Glastonbury). The Nighthawks have outscored their opponents 149-77. They have an extremely explosive offense paired with an equally intimidating defense led by seniors Libby Feltch, Jen O’Connell and goaltender Lisa Isabella. The defense is rounded out  by Annie Fletcher, Sam Dinnan, Steph Suhoza and Colleen Thornberg.   

Senior Courtney Gleason leads the attack with 34 goals and 19 assists. Sophmore Lisa Vendel has 28 goals and 10 assists, Betsy Vendel has 19 goals and 17 assists, Kaitlin Brophy has 28 goals and 5 assists, Jackie Isabella has 13 goals and an assist, Stephanie Paproski has 7 goals and 5 assists and Libby Feltch has 9 goals and an assist. In the win over Bunnell/Stratford, 12 different players scored and Gleason had three goals and six assists to lead the way.

Coach Maura Fletcher ttributes her teams success to its tenacity, going for ground balls and the success of draw specialist Feltch. Newtown looks forward to the next few weeks in hopes of holding off Masuk, Weston, Lauralton Hall, New Fairfield Bethel and East Lyme as the regular season unfolds. After their May 15 regular season finale against Bethel, the Hawks will defend their three-year reign on the SWC title when tourney play begins.