Boys’ Lacrosse Team Bounces Back Then Falls In States

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team bounced back from its South-West Conference Tournament semifinal game defeat to New Fairfield and a sluggish first quarter in its first state tournament game to defeat Hall in the Class L tourney’s first round. The Nighthawks, however, saw their season come to an end in a quarterfinal round loss to Cheshire on June 5.

The defending SWC champion Nighthawks were knocked out of the conference tourney in a 9-4 setback to New Fairfield on May 26. On June 3 they began state tourney play as the No. 7 seed and overcame a 5-1 first-quarter deficit to No. 10 Hall of West Hartford to win 15-11 at Treadwell Park. Colby Summerlin and Ryan Korth both scored three times, and Dylan Huebner added a pair of tallies in the win.

Newtown trailed 6-2 in the second but came roaring back with four straight goals, capped by Tim Dalton’s tally after he emerged from behind the net to deadlock the score at six apiece with 1:21 remaining in the opening half.

Newtown carried the momentum over into the third quarter and took an 8-6 lead on goals by Justin Brophy and Summerlin. Hall ended a run of six straight NHS net-finders and eventually evened the score at 10-10 before Newtown reeled off five straight goals. Goaltender Brandon Body made eight saves in the win.

Newtown moved the ball well to set up and capitalize on scoring chances after being completely outplayed in the first quarter. Newtown Coach Glenn Adams challenged his players to step up after the first period. “There could be no tomorrow,” he told the team.

The Nighthawks responded to flip-flop the score, outscoring Hall 5-1 in the second quarter to get a fresh slate for the second half.

“We just started playing lacrosse. We were asleep for that first quarter. Once we woke up we started playing our game — playing hard — and you saw what happened on the field,” Adams said.

Newtown tried to maintain its winning ways in the quarterfinals at No. 2 Cheshire on June 5, but lost 18-6. Lewis Thompson and Will Northrop both scored twice in the loss. The Nighthawks trailed 4-2 after one quarter of play but Cheshire built a 10-5 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half.

“We played very well at the beginning of the game but I thought we just ran out of gas,” said Adams, noting that the team was playing shorthanded as a result of injuries to Dan Sclafani, Dylan Huebner in the Hall game, and to Max Nacewicz late in the campaign.

Despite the disappointing finish to the season, Adams was happy with his team’s overall effort and results.

“We progressed pretty much every game and ended up a better team at the end of the season, and there isn’t more I could ask for,” the coach said.

Newtown will lose seniors Huebner, Kyle O’Connor, Dalton, Ralph Sergiovanni, Mike Mouchantant, Jamie Bowers, Chris Gregory, Dana Hansen, Zach Dent, Alex Miller, and Connor McNamara.