By Kim J. Harmon

H

ow can a team lose players like Colleen Davis, Shannon Rouse, Kate Bouteiller, Kristin Smith, Erin McDonald, Stephanie Miles and Jessica Oswald and still be so good, so loaded with potential that South-West Conference and CIAC Class L state championships are not out of the realm of possibility?

Who knows? But it just can.

Case in point is the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team. While the loss of Davis, Rouse and Bouteiller – three of the finest players in the SWC – should have hurt terribly, the Nighthawks are so backlogged with young talent that the transition from 2000 to 2001 has been smoooooth.

That’s where coach Rupert de los Reyes comes in. Coach de los Reyes, the sixth coach in the last seven years of the program, has coached several of the Nighthawks for the past five or six years and has coached against many of the others for the past five or six years, so he has a pretty good feel for what he has on the team.

And what he has is a budding powerhouse.

“This team will be a dark horse,” said coach de los Reyes, who guided his team to a title in a pre-season tournament in Niantic last weekend. “I think people see it coming. They just haven’t focussed on them right now.”

The ‘Hawks – with just two seniors and only four juniors – are blessed with some outstanding young talent.

Leadership, of course, will come from seniors Kim Helfer (stopper) and Morgan Haines (sweeper) and juniors Allison Smith (goalie), Caroline Kunkel (left back), Allison Frobey (right back), and Christina Feola, a new transfer.

But a lot of people will find themselves focussing on the sophomore and freshman classes. Sophomore Chelsea Morin may be the finest player in the SWC and could very well be among the top scorers when November rolls around. Then there is Kelley Haines (sweeper), who shined on defense last year, and Alex Helfer, Carrie Lipnick, Kate Fenton and April Scheuerell. While Lipnick and Scheuerell saw plenty of action as freshmen, Helfer didn’t get the opportunity to show off her talent because of a injury.

Then there are players like Siobhan Cooper, Stacy Shpunt, Kate Stickles, Becky Corrigan, Kelly Collier, Heidi Ekstrom, Brittany Meier and Kristen Davis will all have a chance to log some time on the field.

“It is a young team,” said coach de los Reyes, “but the nucleus of this team has won three state championships on the club level and so they are battle tested.”

They tested their abilities in Niantic and beat one of the premier teams in the state, Guilford, by a score of 2-1. A 3-0 victory over Killingly and a 0-0 tie with East Lyme made for a successful weekend all right.

“Guilford and East Lyme are very good teams,” said coach de los Reyes, “and any time you beat teams of that caliber, it sends a good message.”

One of the messages coach de los Reyes is sending in 2001 is that everyone is part of the team. One of his philosophies is to think of the soccer team as consisting of the varsity (which will start and play the games) and the varsity program, which are those players simply waiting for their opportunity to play.

“I think it removes some of the negative connotations of the split between varsity and junior varsity,” said coach de los Reyes. “And I think the kids have responded to it. It will be a difficult task, but my goal is help everyone earn their varsity letter this year.”

And hopefully the Nighthawks will get those extra games – several extra games – in the SWC and CIAC Class L state tournaments to help coach de los Reyes reach his goal.

Schedule

 

Sept. 14    at J Law              5:30 pm

Sept. 20    Weston            3:45 pm*

Sept. 22    Lauralton Hall         7 pm

Sept. 25    at Stratford        3:45 pm

Sept. 29    New Fairfield           7 pm

Oct. 2       at Bethel            3:45 pm

Oct. 4       Joel Barlow              7 pm

Oct. 5       at Notre Dame    3:45 pm

Oct. 9       at Immaculate     3:45 pm

Oct. 11     Foran                    7 pm*

Oct. 15     at Masuk                 7 pm

Oct. 18     Pomperaug              7 pm

Oct. 20     New Milford           7 pm*

Oct. 23     at Bunnell               7 pm

Oct. 25     at Brookfield      3:45 pm

Oct. 27     SWC quarterfinals

Oct. 30     SWC_semi-finals

Nov. 2       SWC finals

All home games will be played at the stadium field unless otherwise indicated. Games with the * will be held at Treadwell Park.