By Kim J. Harmon

There were no state championship trophies to bring home, but garnering a South-West Conference championship, a third-place finish at an SWC tournament, and a new school record in track and field is a nice way to finish off the 2006 season.

Read on –

GIRLS LACROSSE

Newtown 14, Brookfield 10

Newtown 15, Hall 13

Wilton 14, Newtown 5

Brookfield wanted to slow it down, but Newtown sped it up.

And in the end, speed ruled the day as the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team captured its second straight South-West Conference championship (and third overall) with a 14-10 win over Brookfield last week at the Edward Arum Athletic Field in Southbury.

“We did the same thing to them (during the regular season) and they gave us a taste of our own medicine,” said senior co-captain Karli Beitel, who scored a goal but assisted on six others. “But then we realized what we had to do.”

And what the Lady Nighthawks had to go was take advantage of their opportunities. The Lady Bobcats spent the first four minutes of the first half settling outside the fan and looking to get the ball to one of their top three attackmen – Kara Krusckiewicz, Marcy Calovich or Ashley Prizio – but the ‘Hawks eventually wrested away possession and then scored on their first trip all the way down the field.

Rachel Maley recorded that goal at 21:28 off an assist from Kate Sudby.

The same circumstances applied to next sequence as the ‘Cats worked four more minutes off the clock before Beitel, on Newtown’s next trip to the other end of the field, came in from the side off a re-start and put the ‘Hawks ahead, 2-0, with 17:23 remaining.

The goals came rapid fire after that.

Beitel from Lauren Ciccomoscolo at 17:05 … Ciccomoscolo from Beitel at 16:13 … Ciccomoscolo from Maley at 14:51 … and Jen Greenwood from Maley at 13:18. Just 11 days after rallying for a 16-15 overtime win over the ‘Cats, the ‘Hawks soared out to a 6-0 lead.

And it wasn’t over.

The ‘Cats did stop the bleeding with back-to-back goals at 12:50 and 11:51, but the ‘Hawks scored three unanswered goals off the sticks of Ciccomoscolo, Libby Feltch and Moira Collier to take a 9-2 lead with 1:51 remaining.

Brookfield did end the half on a good note, for itself, with a goal at the :43 mark.

That gave the ‘Cats a little impetus and they opened the second half scoring three unanswered goals – the first coming just 40 seconds into the half. A couple of turnovers and a few bad bounces for Newtown enabled Brookfield to regain some energy.

Then Kate Sudby scored off a feed from Beitel and Ciccomoscolo added an unassisted goal directly off an intercepted pass and the ‘Hawks were seemingly back on track, leading 11-6 with 12:37 left to play.

Hold on –

The ‘Cats took advantage of two poor clearing passes and scored four straight goals to pull to within one, 11-10, with 8:19 left and a game that had originally looked like a blowout now promised to go down to the wire.

“I don’t think we let down,” said co-captain Erica Vacaro. “They just came out strong. I think we were confident, but not cocky. We had prepared well and had a good attitude and we knew we could pull it through.”

Just 21 seconds after the ‘Cats pulled to within one goal, Ciccomoscolo – off a feed from Greenwood – gave the locals some breathing room with her fifth goal of the game. After Maley fired a sidearm shot for her second goal a little over a minute later, Ciccomoscolo powered her way through the fan to notch her sixth goal of the game and solidify the Lady Nighthawks’ 14-10 win.

Ciccomoscolo – who finished with a team-high 60 goals – was named South-West Conference championship MVP. Kerrie Canavan, who earned that same honor last year, made 16 saves in the cage to record the win last week.

The locals had little time to rest, though, as the CIAC Division I state tournament began just two days later.

“This was our biggest goal,” said Vacaro, “but we definitely want to do more.”

Considering the ‘Hawks had only one state tournament win to their credit, a 15-13 victory over Avon in a 2002 playdown game in the State Coaches Tournament, there was a lot riding on the first-round matchup with Hall of West Hartford last Friday at Treadwell Park.

And the ‘Hawks, ranked No. 2 in Division I behind Darien, survived a 15-13 overtime win over No. 18 Hall as Ciccomoscolo scored four times, Maley scored three times and Beitel, Sudby and Greenwood scored two times apiece. Collier and Courtney Gleason also tallied goals while Beitel notched three assists.

Their luck and good fortune ran out on Tuesday night, though, as the locals dropped a 14-5 decision to No. 7 Wilton in the Division I quarterfinals. Ciccomoscolo scored a pair of goals while Feltch, Carly Curran and Sudby tallied solo goals.

NOTE: Beitel notched one assist, finishing with a girls’ lacrosse record 62 assists (the boys record is believed to be 70, set by Phil Smith). With 40 goals to her credit, as well, Beitel becomes only the second Newtown lacrosse player to register a 100-point season (Casey Kirch registered 106 points in 2003).

Newtown 14, Brookfield 10

GOALS: Brookfield – Kara Kruczkiewicz 4, Marcy Calovich 3, Alex Grainger 2, Ashley Prizio; Newtown – Lauren Ciccomoscolo 6, Rachel Maley 2, Katie Sudby 2, Maura Collier, Libby Feltch, Jen Greenwood, Karli Beitel. ASSISTS: Brookfield – Becca Rodgers, Prizio, Calovich, Gabby Wortman; Newtown – Beitel 6, Maley 2, Sudby. SAVES: Brookfield – Lexi DeStefano 19; Newtown – Kerrie Canavan 16.

Newtown 15, Hall 13 (OT)

GOALS: Hall – Margaux LeBuffe 4, Molly Burke 2, Emily Taddel 2, Lauren Fitzgerald 2, Nicole Lindgren, Chas Kevin, Abby Daelger; Newtown – Lauren Ciccomoscolo 4, Rachel Maley 3, Karli Beitel 2, Katie Sudby 2, Jen Greenwood 2, Moira Collier, Courtney Gleason. ASSISTS: Hall – Burke 2, Taddel, LeBuffe; Newtown – Beitel 3, Ciccomascolo, Greenwood. SAVES: Hall – Gina Dinallo 9; Newtown – Kerrie Canavan 8.

GOLF

Third at SWCs

Catching Pomperaug or Weston may have been too tall an order for the Newtown High School golf team, and even though the Nighthawks didn’t catch those two schools they still finished strong at the South-West Conference championship tournament last week at Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury.

With Steve Oberstadt and Dave McLaughlin carding rounds of 9-over 81, the ‘Hawks finished third overall – 16 strokes behind Pomperaug and 14 behind Weston. Billy McCann notched an 87 while Matt Taylor carded an 89 for the ‘Hawks.

“I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way the season turned out,” said head coach Jen Huettner. “It’s nice, we went into (the tournament) ranked third in the SWC and we needed that win over Bethel on the last day to get it.”

With a heart-stopping 167-169 win over Bethel at Rock Ridge Country Club on the final day of the regular season, the ‘Hawks finished 11-5 overall and 8-3 in the SWC. But though they finished tied with Masuk, a win over the Panthers back on May 11 gave the No. 3 slot to the ‘Hawks.

Individually, Oberstadt and McLaughlin finished tied for eighth as Joe Fucigna of Weston earned medallist honors with a 2-over 74. McCann finished 17th overall after earning a spot on the SWC All-Colonial Division team.

TEAMS: Pomperaug (322) – Sam Pelletier 75, Jim Widman 78, Zach Sommers 81, John Zyzo 88; Weston (324) – Joe Fucigna 74, Peter Scher 79, Bernie D’Amato 80, Max Fortin 91; Newtown (338) – Steve Oberstadt 81, Dave McLaughlin 81, Billy McCann 87, Matt Taylor 89; Joel Barlow (345) – Ernie DeLucia 78, Matt Albertelli 88, Alex Bardani 89, Lee Summerlin 90; Brookfield (351) – Brian Heckman 85, Christian LaMere 87, Rich Mendelson 88, Chris Belden 91; Bethe1 (353), Bunnell (366), Masuk (367).

INDIVIDUALS – 1. Joe Fucigna (W) 74; 2. Sam Pelletier (P) 75; 3. Jim Widman (P) 78; 4. Ernie DeLucia (JB) 78; 5. Peter Scher (W) 79; 6. Ryan Poeti (NM.) 80; 6. Bernie D’Amato (W) 80; 8. Zach Sommers (P) 81; 8. Steve Oberstadt (NE) 81; 8. Dave McLaughlin (NE) 81; 8. Brendan McHugh (M) 81; 12. Nick Daven (I) 82; 12. Ryan Soares (I) 82; 14. Mike Gallo (BU) 84; 15. Brian Heckman (BR) 85; 16. Mike Rizzo (BE) 86; 17. Thomas Cook (I) 87; 17. Dan Curtis (I) 87; 17. Adam Cohen (BE) 87; 17. Brendan O’Grady (BE) 87; 17. Christian Lamere (BR) 87; 17. Billy McCann (NE) 87; 23. John Zyzo (P) 88; 23. Matt Albertelli (JB) 88; 23. Rich Mendelson (BR) 88.

Final Standings

TEAM      W-L

Pomperaug              11-0

Weston    10-2

Newtown                8-31

Masuk     8-3

Bunnell    6-52

Joel Barlow             6-5

Bethel     5-63

Brookfield               5-6

Immaculate            3-84

New Milford           3-8

Notre Dame           1-10

Stratford 0-11

1 – Beat Masuk head to head

2 – Beat Barlow head to head

3 – Beat Brookfield head to head

4 – Beat New Milford head to head

All-SWC

Sam Pelletier          Pomperaug

Nicholas Esposito    Masuk

Jim Widman            Pomperaug

James McIntosh      Bunnell

Joe Fucigna             Weston

Bernie D’Amato     Weston

All-Colonial

Ryan Poeti              New Milford

Chris Blake              Pomperaug

Billy McCann          Newtown

Brendan McHugh   Masuk

John Zyzo               Pomperaug

Mike Gallo              Bunnell

TRACK AND FIELD

Girls 17th in Class LL

Boys 23rd in Class LL

They weren’t racing against the field. They were racing against themselves.

Ciara Simek, Julie Landin, Kristi Nowak and Alex Konneker didn’t hold any illusions about finishing first in the 4x100 relay at the CIAC Class LL track and field championships – not with schools like Danbury, New Britain and East Hartford in the other lanes – but they did have illusions about snapping the school record they themselves set a week before.

The foursome first set the record at 51.25 while claiming first at the South-West Conference championships and then re-set it to 51.16 while finishing fifth at the CIAC Class LL championships at Manchester High School.

That finish – coupled with an eighth-place finish in the 1,600 meters by Sadie Ball and a sixth-place finish by Jessica Cosgrove in the discus – enabled the Lady Nighthawks to finish 17th overall with eight points.

Danbury (79.5) and Manchester (73) took the top spots.

Meanwhile, the 4x100 relay was unable to further better their record at the CIAC State Open on Tuesday, finishing in 52.18 and taking 23rd overall.

On the boys side, Charlie Baldour had the top Newtown finish, taking fifth in the 1,600 meters at 4:28.75 (a little more than five seconds behind Robert Dugger of Glastonbury) as the Nighthawks finished 23rd overall with four points.

GIRLS TENNIS

CIAC Open Tournament

After claiming their first-ever South-West Conference championship and two individual SWC championships, the season ended quietly for the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team at the CIAC Individual Open Tournament.

The Lady Nighthawks’ top singles player, Lauren Nemeth, earned a 9-7 pro-set win over Allison McCracken of St. Bernard in the first round before falling 8-0 to No. 14 Jacqueline Corba of Greenwich.

In doubles, Katie Serock and Jenna Moser stopped Leonora Gecaj and Ashlyn Henri of Ansonia 8-1 in the opening round before falling to No. 16 Ashley Steinfeld and Abby Jones of Fairfield Ludlowe 8-1 in the first round.

Meanwhile, No. 7 Emily Fields and Jill Tanner were defeated 9-7 in the first round by Andrea Nagy and Hilary Smith of Greenwich.

BOYS TENNIS

Class LL Tournament

The CIAC Class LL state tournament may have been over in the first round for three Newtown High School boys’ tennis players, but a three doubles teams felt like spending a little more time on the court last week.

Newtown’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Mike Coster and Jim Wilkins defeated Richard Dionne and Joseph Peruck of Naugatuck 6-1, 6-4 to advance but then fell to No. 9 Terry Keegan and Kevin Russo of Fairfield Prep 6-0, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Justin Pacheco and Dave Wilkins defeated Matthew Shepps and Visar Tasimi 6-2, 6-0 but then lost to No. 2 Cyrus Gentry and Jesse Silkoff of Cheshire 6-0, retired.

Evan Batzer and Adam Wenick also won their first round match, defeating Nick Farrell and Kevin Webster of Naugatuck 6-1, 6-1 before falling to No. 14 Aaron Goldenthal and Benji Cooper of Hall 6-1, 6-2.

In singles, Max Margulies suffered a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Anders Vonderheyde of Fairfield Prep in the first round as Mario Roehrs was stopped 6-4, 6-1 by Kyle Wilson of Naugatuck. Also, Drew Adamek was defeated 6-0, 6-1 by Matt Cappello of Naugatuck.