Sure, the 19-2 win over South-West Conference opponent Immaculate of Danbury on April 25 is impressive and bolsters Newtown High School’s postseason standing, but losses to tough nonconference foes Guilford and Glastonbury in the following pair of contests stand to be more meaningful for the boys’ lacrosse team.

After all, these matchups reflect the sort of tough competition the Nighthawks stand to face in the postseason, particularly if they get into the deeper rounds of the SWC and state tournaments.

Newtown nearly overcame a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter but came up just short in an 8-7 defeat at the hands of visiting Guilford at Blue & Gold Stadium on April 27.

Brett Pierce scored his third and fourth goals just over a minute apart, pulling the Nighthawks to within equalizing distance with 1:04 to play. Newtown appeared to be set up for a chance after winning the ensuing draw, but Guilford forced a quick turnover and went on to run out the clock.

“They’re 7-0 for a reason. They don’t make mistakes,” Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley said. “Except for faceoffs, I think they beat us in every other facet of the game.”

Tanner Stergue won 16 of 19 faceoffs, but Guilford protected the ball and capitalized on a few Nighthawk miscues. Bulkley liked the comeback effort but thought his team could have won this game.

“They don’t give up. I just would have liked for us to be more consistent and not make so many errors,” Bulkley said.

Jeffrey Garrity scored twice, and Kyle Shirk also hit the back of the net for the Hawks. Goaltender Kyle Dandrea made eight saves, and Andre Sokk scooped 11 ground balls.

“We want to play tough games like this. You learn a lot from a loss,” Bulkley said.

Newtown lost 12-8 to visiting Glastonbury (which improved to 8-1 overall), also at Blue & Gold, on April 30. The final score is deceptive, as it was a one-goal nail-biter with a minute left before Newtown pulled its goaltender in an effort to get the ball back.

Tucker Garrity, Jeffrey Garrity, and Aiden Coleman all had two goals, and Sokk and Kyle Sullivan each had a net-finder.

“Very good game and hard fought on both sides. We will build on this level of play,” Bulkley said.

The Nighthawks carry an overall record of 7-4 (6-0 in the conference) into yet another challenging battle as SWC rival New Fairfield comes to Blue & Gold Stadium on Saturday, May 4 at 7 pm. The Rebels won nine of their first ten games (falling only to St Anthony’s of New York).