By Kim J. Harmon

DARIEN – Boasting a 13-3-1 record and a win in the first round of the State Coaches Tournament, the Nighthawks were truly getting a glimpse of how great they have been in the year 2000.

But the ‘Hawks had to travel down to Darien on Monday for the second round of the tournament and had to measure that greatness against a team – the three-time defending state champion – which has redefined the word.

Having just played the Blue Wave on May 11 (and suffering a 14-3 loss), the Nighthawks knew exactly what they were in for as they went to visit them again.

A long day.

With this being their third consecutive trip to the state tournament, the ‘Hawks were determined to finally make it past the first round – which they did, with a thrilling 14-11 win over Hall of West Hartford last Thursday at Bruce Jenner Stadium – but going any further in the tournament would mean getting by Darien and there is a reason why the Blue Wave is the three-time defending state champions.

They are good.

Newtown saw its season come to an end on Monday on the heels of an 18-5 loss.

Sarah O’Sullivan scored a pair of goals (finished with 98 for her career) while Katherine Moberg, Erin McDonald and Caitlin Collier (who finished her career with a school-record 134 goals) scored one each.

Winning that second round game was a long shot, but – after losing to Greenwich in the first round in each of the last two seasons – the Nighthawks were at least glad to make it that far in the first place.

The ‘Hawks reached the second round with a 14-11 win over Hall of West Hartford.

This was the second year in a row that the ‘Hawks hosted a first round game and they did not waste the opportunity. Despite falling into a quick 1-0 hole, the girls were simply explosive and pounded the Warriors with 10 first-half goals to take a 10-4 lead at the break.

O’Sullivan scored Newtown’s first three goals of the game and had to work hard to get all three.

Well, the first a little easy. O’Sullivan dodged towards the crease on a restart and scored her first of the game. On the second, O’Sullivan grabbed a pass from_Morgan_Pacheco and crossed in front of the cage, shooting overhand while getting stuffed by two Guilford defenders. On the third, she took a pass at midfield and lumbered all the way down to the cage for the low shot.

Following that sequence, Newtown held a 3-2 lead.

Pacheco followed with her own goal soon after, scooping a ground ball well inside the defensive zone and running it all the way down the field for the shot. A few moments later, Collier passed down low to Kate Ryan, who shot over her defender for a 5-2 Newtown lead.

The Warriors answered back, but the ‘Hawks followed with goals by Moberg, Ryan, Emily Sheehan and two by Erin McDonald to take a 10-3 lead. The final four goals in that string all came within one minute of game action and the last two were nearly identical in the way they transpired (Collier catching the face-off and passing to McDonald for the quick shot).

With a sense of foreboding, however, the Warriors finally broke the string with a goal with just 10 seconds left in the half. That goal was the first of six in a row the Warriors scored on into the second half to trim the Newtown lead to 10-9 and turn what had been a blowout into a thriller.

But facing a hard charging Hall team, Newtown finally answered with its first goal of the second half. O’Sullivan raced the ball into the attack zone, pulled up, and short passed to Collier who had to shoot with her stick held high in the air. For Collier, who had been stoned by the Guilford goaltender on three occasions before, it was her first goal of the game.

The Warriors got back on the board to trim the Newtown lead back down to one, 11-10, but McDonald, Ryan and Collier all scored in succession to give the Nighthawks a comfortable lead, 14-10. All that was left was for Hall to score on an empty net after Newtown goaltender Sarah Dacey, on a penalty call, was forced to stand aside.

For the game, O’Sullivan, Ryan and McDonald scored three goals apiece and Collier added two. Moberg, Pacheco and Sheehan chipped in with one apiece. Dacey once again had a solid game in the cage, coming up with several big stops in the first half and a number of strong clearing passes that started the Newtown offense off and running.

The Nighthawks finish the season at 13-4-1.