Just as quickly as the skies opened up and rain appeared to arrive in time to accompany visiting Pomperaug of Southbury in washing Newtown High School’s South-West Conference title hopes away, the Nighthawks seemed to find new life in the May 20 semifinal-round contest at Blue & Gold Stadium.

Third-seeded Pomperaug led 12-8 with about a minute and a half remaining when second-seeded Newtown stormed back, scoring with 20 seconds left, and again with ten seconds to go. The Panthers won the game’s last draw and ran out the clock to escape with a 12-11 victory.

“If only we had 20 more seconds. They just started too late,” Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said of her players.

These teams met in the regular season and finished in a bizarre 9-9 tie, one in which illegal stick violations waved off apparent overtime winners by both squads.

The rematch saw the Panthers seize a 7-5 halftime lead.

A goal by Newtown’s Rylee Harrell made it a 7-6 game shorty after a brief but heavy rainfall just in time for intermission.

The Panthers reeled off four unanswered tallies for an 11-6 advantage. Harrell scored again, with 8:13 left. It took about six and a half minutes for the Hawks to get closer. Ali Kelleher took a pass from Keeley Kortze and scored with 1:44 to go, making it 11-8.

Pomperaug had a quick response before Newtown found its scoring touch, capped by an Elena Sughrue net-finder following a Harrell draw control.

Suddenly the Panthers were holding their collective breath, but could exhale and advance seconds later.

Harrell finished with three goals. Sughrue, Shea Murphy, and Kortze each had two goals. Kelleher and Lu Hage both had one.

Julia Gerace and Kortze both had a pair of assists, and Kelleher and Hage had one each.

Harrell collected six of Newtown’s ten draw controls; Pomperaug got 15 draw controls.

Colleen Phaneuf scooped four ground balls to lead the Hawks in that category. Goaltender Tess Davenport made nine saves.

“I think we kind of beat ourselves today,” Fletcher said “I have to guess we missed the cage ten times.”

Newtown’s defense made a strong adjustment, switching into a zone setup that Fletcher said disrupted Pomperaug’s offense after a fast start.

Newtown was too timid and allowed Pomperaug to dictate the flow of the game initially, Fletcher said. The coach was pleased with her team’s efforts late.

“It was great. It shows they have a lot of heart, they work hard, they never give up,” the coach said.