Girls Lacrosse Team Slips Past Masuk Into South-West Conference Championship Game

By Kim J. Harmon

This is one of the best times of the year – a time for dramatic moments and a time for players to step up and make something happen.

With Newtown High School represented in the South-West Conference track and field championships (boys’ and girls), the tennis team tournament (girls), the tennis individual tournament (boys and girls), the softball tournament and the girls’ lacrosse tournament there were plenty of opportunities for those dramatic moments.

And be it Alex Konneker winning three individual events and sharing in a relay win at the SWC track championships or Kelly Collier scoring four goals and assisting on three others in the SWC girls’ lacrosse semifinals or the softball team being no-hit by Lauralton Hall in the SWC softball quarterfinals, things were dramatic enough for the Nighthawks.

Read on –

Girls’ Lacrosse

If the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team was feeling any trepidation at all entering the South-West Conference tournament on Tuesday night – having lost two of its last three games to close out the regular season – no one on the team was showing it.

It wasn’t trepidation, but confidence and determination that the Lady Nighthawks were showing in Monroe and that’s what carried the locals to an 11-7 semi-final win over Masuk.

“No, we weren’t nervous,” said co-captain Kelly Collier, who fueled the offense by scoring four goals and assisting on three others. “We prefer to be the underdogs. The last time (in a 6-2 loss to Masuk) I think we felt like we were expected to win.”

Still, the locals had to be feeling something after the Pantherettes scored three goals in quick fashion and took an early 5-2 lead in the first half.

“Our coaches had some really good advice – ‘never doubt yourself.’ That has been the mentality of the team all year,” said Collier. “Nobody let up.”

In fact, the ‘Hawks – down three goals – seemed to really step it up. The rally began when Meg Regnery scored on a hard shot from 10 yards out. About 90 seconds later, Karli Beitel took a nice dump off feed from Collier and brought the ‘Hawks to within one.

It took five more minutes, but the ‘Hawks tied the score up off a fast break. Jackie Darigo sped down the right wing to scoop a ground ball and reached back over her shoulder to center a ball to Regnery, who quickly fired the ball into the net.

Collier scored back-to-back goals (one off a feed from Casey Frobey and the other unassisted) to close out the half and give the ‘Hawks a 7-5 lead.

Just 2:13 into the second half, though, the Pantherettes cut the lead in half with a goal off a restart. That seemed to get the No. 1 seed moving, but when the ‘Hawks scrambled back to stop a one-on-one breakaway a few moments later that may have sapped the will of the hosts.

Kate Fenton, Heidi Ekstrom, Louisa Yemc and Rachel Maley scored in succession to give the ‘Hawks an 11-6 lead (Kim Solheim, Ekstrom and Collier all had brilliant assists on those goals) and all that was left was for the Pantherettes to toss in one final goal in the waning moments of the half.

With the win, the ‘Hawks moved on to the SWC championship on Thursday night against Joel Barlow, a 9-8 winner over New Fairfield on Tuesday night. The ‘Hawks beat the Lady Falcons, 10-9, back on May 4.

The ‘Hawks closed out the regular season last week with a 14-13 overtime loss to New Fairfield. The ‘Hawks held a 7-5 halftime lead, but the Lady Rebels turned it around in the second half to force the six-minute extra session. Regnery scored three goals while Beitel, Frobey and Kelly Collier scorer two goals apiece. Moira Collier, Solheim, Fenton and Ekstrom also scored while Collier added three assists and Fenton and Frobey added two assists apiece. Beitel also chipped in with an assist and goaltender Kerrie Canavan made 21 saves.

NOTE: At press time, the South-West Conference championship game between Newtown and Joel Barlow, originally scheduled for Thursday at 7 pm at Masuk, was changed to 4:30 pm Thursday at Newtown High School.

New Fairfield                    14

Newtown                             13

GOALS: New Fairfield – Kayte Devine 5, Gadowski 4, Cassie Brown 2, Alyse Valentini 2, Keehan; Newtown – Meg Regnery 3, Karli Beitel 2, Casey Frobey 2, Kelly Collier 2, Moira Collier, Kimberly Solheim, Kate Fenton, Heidi Ekstrom. ASSISTS: New Fairfield – Burra; Newtown – K. Collier 3, Fenton 2, Frobey 2, Beitel. SAVES: New Fairfield – Taylor 14; Newtown – Kerrie Canavan 21.

 

Newtown                             11

Masuk                                     7

GOALS: Newtown – Kelly Collier 4, Meg Regnery 2, Louisa Yemc, Karli Beitel, Kate Fenton, Heidi Ekstrom, Rachel Maley. Masuk – Amanda Williams 5, Nicole Fiore, Jess Kramer. ASSISTS: Newtown – Collier 3, Beitel, Ekstrom, Jackie Darigo, Kimberly Solheim; Masuk – Williams, Kramer, Shelly Catz. SAVES: Newtown – Kerrie Canavan 12; Masuk – Lauren Johnson (M) 8.

Softball

Facing the only undefeated team in the South-West Conference quarterfinals could give anyone the jelly leg, but fear was not the enemy of the Newtown High School softball team on Monday afternoon in Milford. Pitcher Kim Ovittore was.

All Ovittore did was fire a no-hitter, striking out 10 batters and leading Lauralton Hall (20-1 overall, 16-0 in the SWC) to a 3-0 win.

“I think we were the only team which wasn’t afraid of them,” said Newtown head coach Jay Edwards, who saw his girls nearly pull off a stunning upset of the Crusaders during the regular season. “The girls were mentally tough and ready to play.”

Back on April 28, the Lady Nighthawks were one out away from pinning a 4-2 defeat on the Crusaders when Ovittore, belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning for the win.

“We had ‘em,” said coach Edwards, “and then one swing from a great player.”

On Monday, the Crusaders did all of their damage in the first inning – and did it all with two outs. Newtown pitcher Lisa Morgan walked a batter, hit another, and then allowed a two-run double to Sam Keltos, who had fanned three times against Morgan in their regular season matchup. A single by Jessica Horvath then presented with the Crusaders with their third run.

Morgan settled down after that, allowing just two more hits the rest of the way while the defense played flawlessly around her. Centerfielder Stacey Gordon made three strong catches while catcher Annie Grills gunned down a runner trying to steal second in the sixth inning.

“We were thinking they had to play their best game to beat us,” said coach Edwards, “and – unfortunately – they did. We played flawless defense, we hit the ball hard, we tried to move runners over. We did all the things we needed to do. There’s no shame in losing to a team like that.”

The ‘Hawks qualified for the SWC tournament with a 3-1 win over Bethel last week. The locals rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the fourth – the first run coming on a double by Christina Wolf and the second on a wild pitch. Morgan allowed just three hits, two of them for extra bases, while walking one and striking out seven.

But in the regular season finale, the ‘Hawks – with a hobbled Morgan leaving the game in the fourth inning – fell to Foran, 6-5, in extra innings. Mariale Renna came on in relief of Morgan and suffered the loss after allowing three runs in seven steady innings of work. Meg LaFlamme doubled and drove in a run while Sammie Ciaccia drove in two runs. LaFlamme, Gordon and Jenna Van Waalwijk all drove in runs.

The ‘Hawks (12-8 overall, 10-7 in the SWC) now await the CIAC Class LL state tournament – which begins next Tuesday. Seedings and pairings will be announced this weekend.

                                   R     H     E

Newtown                 0      0      0

Lauralton                3      4      0

Batteries: Newtown – Lisa Morgan and Annie Grills; Lauralton Hall - Kim Ovittore and Tory Pennick. WP: Ovittore (20-1). LP: Morgan (11-7). SO: Newtown – Morgan 4; Lauralton Hall – Ovittore 10. BB: Newtown – Morgan 3; Lauralton Hall – Ovittore 1. Extra Bases: Lauralton Hall – Sam Keltos (2B).

                                   R     H     E

Bethel                       1      3      2

Newtown                 3      4      0

Batteries: Bethel – Kristin Faust, Kristen Boehn (6) and Mandy Flachbart; Newtown – Lisa Morgan and Annie Grills. WP: Morgan (11-6). LP: Faust. SO: Bethel – Faust 3, Boehn 2; Newtown – Morgan 7. BB: Bethel – Faust 2; Newtown – Morgan 1. Extra Bases: Bethel – Nicole Sproviero (2B), Melissa Salierno (3B); Newtown – Christina Wolf (2B).

                                   R     H     E

Newtown                 5      8      1

Foran                        6    11      1

Batteries: Newtown – Lisa Morgan, Mariale Renna (4) and Annie Grills; Foran – Katie Sayball and Jess Watts. WP: Sayball. LP: Renna (1-1). SO: Newtown – Morgan 3, Renna 3; Foran – Sayball 22. BB: Newtown – Morgan 2, Renna 5; Foran – Sayball 3. Extra Bases: Newtown – Meg LaFlamme (2B); Foran – Stephanie Dawid (2B), Sayball (3B), Watts (3B).

Girls Tennis

It was a tremendous accomplishment, but unfortunately it was a one-time thing.

The Newtown High School girls’ tennis team highlighted a spectacular 12-3 regular season with a win over Weston back on April 28, but the Lady Nighthawks were unable to repeat that feat and fell to the Lady Trojans in the semi-finals of the South-West Conference team tournament on Monday.

The match began last Saturday, but was halted due to darkness with the Lady Trojans leading, 3-2. The match resumed on Monday, with the Lady Trojans completing the win and immediately moving on to meet powerhouse Joel Barlow in the championship.

Brittany Meier and Lauren Nemeth succumbed to a couple of very tough opponents, as did the doubles duo of Kim Allen and Jill Tanner. But both Tara Ryan and Michelle Serock recorded wins at No. 3 and 4 singles to keep the Lady Nighthawks in the match.

“Brittany hit the ball well, but she just doesn’t have the weapons that Perris has,” said head coach Jean Kunkel. “and Lauren hurt her knee running wide for a well-placed return and as the match progressed her knee began to swell and she lost a step. Tara and Michelle, though, were in charge the entire matches. Tara was just too consistent and Michelle is definitely back on track.”

The SWC individual tournament commenced on Tuesday afternoon with Meier, Nemeth and Ryan competing in singles and Allen/Tanner and Ashley Gabor/Emily Fields competing in doubles.

The ‘Hawks finished up a strong regular season with a 6-1 win over Brookfield. Meier suffered the only loss, a 6-0, 6-1 decision to Christine Strait while Nemeth, Ryan and Kristene Salbu earned straight set wins at No. 2, 3 and 4 singles (losing only three games total).

“Lauren needed to win this match to keep her qualification for states,” said coach Kunkel. “The Brookfield girl was left-handed with an intimidating first serve and a forehand weapon. But Lauren was the better player on Wednesday. Lauren is a fun player to watch because she is very consistent, smart and athletic and is very offensive minded when given any opportunity by her opponent.”

Doubles tandems Allen/Tanner and Gabor/Fields easily won straight set wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles, while Sarah Salbu and Jenna Moser had the toughest win of the afternoon with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Trish Carreiro and Laura Cadena.

“I wrote goals and measurable objectives for our team at the beginning of the year,” said coach Kunkel.. “I felt they were ambitious but reachable. I am so proud that my girls achieved them all. We did qualify for the SWC team tournament; we did send the maximum number of girls to the SWC individual tournament; we did qualify for the state team tournament and we did send at least two singles and/or doubles teams to the state individual tournament. We had a lot of laughs and fun during the season.”

Nemeth qualified for the state tournament at No. 2 singles while Allen/Tanner qualified at No. 1 doubles and Gabor/Fields qualified at No. 2 doubles.

At the inaugural junior varsity tournament last weekend, Jenna Moser, Nikia McFadden and Katie Datin, all freshmen, all had a chance to compete. All three made it to the semi-finals, with McFadden and Moser reaching the finals and Moser claiming the title.

“It takes a lot of maturity to make the varsity team,” said coach Kunkel, “know you are good, and accept your role on the team as these girls do. All of these girls would have a regular spot on many other teams and it speaks volumes for the future of Newtown tennis.”

Baseball

Needing just one win in its final two games – heck, just one win anywhere else during the season – the Newtown High School baseball team came up just shy of qualifying for the CIAC state tournament, but only one person was whispering, “What if?”

Coach Carl Strait.

“Every day,” said the coach, who was 6-14 in his first year at the helm and 7-13 this year. “Woulda, coulda, shoulda. But the kids are pumped. They had a good season.”

The Nighthawks dropped a 3-1 decision to Bethel last week when the Wildcats’ Bryan Calzone pitched a complete game five-hitter and then they dropped an 8-0 decision to Foran when the Lions’ Kyle Miller tossed a complete-game four-hitter.

It was a tough thing to ask, that the ‘Hawks – still a very young team with two freshman starters – win one of those games. Together, Bethel and Foran were 23-16 overall, 18-9 in the South-West Conference.

In the loss to Bethel, a two-run single by Calzone in the top of the seventh inning made all the difference. Sophomore Steve Marks suffered the loss despite pitching a very solid game, scattering six hits while walking none and striking out eight. The ‘Cats broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fifth on a hit by Sean Brinkerhoff (who double twice and singled on the day), but the ‘Hawks matched that in the bottom of the frame on a Mike Tibbetts single. Seth Hull, who stepped up late in the year and hit the ball hard, tripled for the ‘Hawks while Pat McCarthy collected a pair of hits.

In the loss to Foran, pitcher Matt Myslewski was touched up for the first time all year. Foran, leading 3-0, exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open the game. Tanner Munroe doubled, homered and drove in three runs to power the Lions. The ‘Hawks were limited to four hits by the Lions’ Miller, who walked five batters and struck out five others.

                                   R     H     E

Bethel                       3      6      0

Newtown                 1      5      2

Batteries: Bethel – Bryan Calzone and Matt Lehane; Newtown – Steve Marks and Pete Oggeri. WP: Calzone (5-3). LP: Marks (2-4). SO: Bethel – Calzone 7; Newtown – Marks 8. BB: Bethel – Calzone 1. Extra Bases: Bethel – Brinkerhoff (2B, 2B); Newtown – Seth Hull (3B).

                                   R     H     E

Newtown                 0      4      3

Foran                        8      9      1

Batteries: Newtown – Matt Myslewski, Alex Dolan (6), Pat McCarthy (6) and Pete Oggeri; Foran – Kyle Miller and Corey Shoop. WP: Miller. LP: Myslewski. SO: Newtown – Myslewski 3; Foran – Miller 5. BB: Newtown – Myslewski 4; Foran – Miller 5. Extra Bases: Foran – Tanner Munroe (2B, HR), Tom Ladore (2B).

Boys Tennis

For the fourth year in a row, the Newtown High School boys’ tennis team needed to win its final regular season match against Brookfield to qualify for the South-West Conference team tournament. In the past, the Nighthawks have survived the do-or-die situation.

This year, it was Brookfield’s turn. The Bobcats slammed the ‘Hawks, 6-1.

Newtown’s only win came at No. 3 singles, where Drew Adamek defeated Jamie Leavitt 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).

“We put up a very good fight against an older and more experienced team,” said head coach Marty Margulies. “I was very pleased with the outcome of our season. Having lost the likes of Jon Perachio and Sean O’Mahoney, and with several freshmen and sophomores on the squad, I thought back in March that we’d be lucky to break .500. Instead, we were in the playoff race until the final day of the season, and even the schools that beat us had to work in order to do so … except for Weston, which dominated the league.”

In the loss to Brookfield, Matt McFadden took Scott Seiffer to three sets at No. 1 singles before falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Jason Garbarino dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision to Kunal Patel at No. 2 singles and Chris Martin fell 6-1, 6-2 to Scott Meltzer at No. 4 singles.

The doubles tandems of Chris Meier/Max Margulies, Bruno Moura/Tyler Hull and Jim Wilkins/Mike Coster suffered straight set losses but picked up quite a few games along the way to make it a difficult accomplishment for the ‘Cats.

“McFadden played his best tennis of the year in dominating Seiffer in the first set,” said coach Margulies, “and took a 3-1 lead in the second, but Seiffer is a maddeningly consistent player who can also hit hard when he has to and he eventually wore him down. Garbarino also took an early lead – 4-1 and 5-2 in the first set – but then felt ill and could not keep up the same level of play. It took tremendous courage and determination for him to finish at all.”

By finishing fifth, the ‘Hawks were able to send the maximum number of entrants (the top three singles players and two doubles team) to the individual tournament which opened on Tuesday in Bethel. The ‘Hawks also qualified to send all four singles players and all three of our doubles teams to the state championships in Cheshire.

“I am especially grateful to our graduating senior co-captains, Matt McFadden and Jason Garbarino, for their unceasing commitment and high quality of play throughout the four years that they and I have been here, and, though I shall miss them personally and as players, I am heartened for the future by the performance of the others.  They are works in progress, but the progress, I’m sure, will be visible when the 2005 season begins next March.”

In the SWC individual tournament, Garbarino was the only player to survive into the second day of competition. He clinched at least a second team, All-conference spot with an 8-3, pro set win over Steve Esares of Masuk.

“t was one of the best outings – perhaps the best – that Jason has had all year,” said coach Margulies. “He overcame a problem that had plagued him in regular season matches by hitting deep, angled approach shots that enabled him to force the pace and dominate play.”

When play resumed, Garbarino was slated to face Frank Poniatowski of Bunnell. A win there would put Garbarino into the quarterfinals.

Boys Lacrosse

The Newtown High School boys’ lacrosse team needed just one win in its final three games to qualify for the CIAC Division I state tournament and with Fairfield and New Canaan on the back end of the schedule, it appeared as if the most likely spot for that win would be against Weston.

The Nighthawks – who had won six of their previous eight games – did not let themselves down and recorded an easy 12-2 win over the Trojans. The win boosted the ‘Hawks to 8-6, giving them the cushion they sorely needed considering their fell to Fairfield (8-7 in overtime) and New Canaan (11-4) to drop to 8-8 overall.

In the win over Weston, eight different players put the ball in the cage. Grant Speer scored three goals while John Oliver chipped in with two goals and four assists. Tyler Law added a pair of goals while Kyle Kirch had one goal and three assists. Jeff Bell, Mike Conroy, Devon Manfredonia and Dan Gindraux also scored.

Bell and Brendan O’Connor contributed assists and goaltender Chris Body made 13 saves.

By virtue of the fact that there are only two Division I teams in the South-West Conference, the Nighthawks earned an automatic bid into the SWC Division I championship game against Joel Barlow on Tuesday, June 1. The ‘Hawks dropped a 10-5 decision to the Falcons back on May 6.

Weston                               2

Newtown                        12

GOALS: Newtown – Grant Speer 3, Tyler Law 2, John Oliver 2, Kyle Kirch, Jeff Bell, Mike Conroy, Dev0n Manfredonia, Dan Gindraux. Weston – Matt Druks, Ben Fine. ASSISTS: Newtown – Oliver 4, Kirch 3, Bell, Brendan O’Conner. Weston – Fine. SAVES: Weston - Baran 13, Broder 3; Newtown – Chris Body 13.

Golf

Nothing like saving the best for last.

With just a couple of regular season matches left on the schedule, the Newtown High School golf team put together a spectacular performance on Tuesday afternoon at the Newtown Country Club and pinned the first loss of the season on the bags of Pomperaug High School.

The 158-159 win boosted the Nighthawks to 8-4 and gave them their fourth consecutive win after a three-meet losing streak two weeks ago.

Ben Moore fired an even-par 34 to earn medallist honors and Joe DeFeo followed with a sharp 5-over 39. Ron Shimko carded a 6-over 40 and Andrew Fiscella contributed an 11-over 45 to round of the foursome.

Moore’s 34 made the difference, as the Panthers turned in rounds of 38, 39, 41 and 41.

Just one day before, the ‘Hawks did a bit of struggling on The Tradition in Wallingford in a 180-192 win over Foran. Shimko earned medallist honors with a 6-over 41. Despite rounds of 11-over 46 from Moore and Dave McLaughlin and a round of 12-over 47 from Nick Moser, the ‘Hawks were able to easily defeat the Lions, who turned in rounds of 42, 47, 49 and 54.

That win helped the ‘Hawks qualify for the South-West Conference tournament as a team.

Newtown participated at the annual Chappa Tournament at Longshore on Thursday and will close out the regular season on Tuesday, June 1, against Stratford. The South-West Conference individual and team tournament will be held Wednesday, June 2, at Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury. Tee-off is slated for 7:45 am.