Girls Soccer Team Off To Winning Start, But Seeking Improvement

By Andy Hutchison

Sure, Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team made it through week one with a 2-0 record, having outscored the opposition a cumulative 9-0, but the Nighthawks aren’t exactly going to be complacent as they look to keep up these winning ways.

After an easy 7-0 season-opening win over always-struggling Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport on September 12, the Nighthawks posted a 2-0 win over visiting Bethel this past Saturday morning. The second victory, being that it was against a stronger team, may have been a bit more satisfying for the Hawks, but they know there is plenty of work to be done to get better.

“I’m happy that we got a win. I’m really happy with their demeanor after the win — that they understand, without me telling them, that they need to work on a whole bunch of stuff, mostly possession-wise,” Newtown Coach Marc Kenney said of his players after the Bethel game. “That was going to be our strength going forward and today we got away from it a little bit and we started to try to play balls over the top, which certainly is not our strength.”

Kenney would like to see his team do a better job of possessing the ball by keeping the passes shorter and by players having good off-ball movement.

“When we do that we’re very good,” said Kenney, noting that the two goals against Bethel — logged by Melissa Buccino, assisted by Brittany Tolla, and Sarah Lynch — came via that ball control formula. “When we get away from it, it gets a little sloppy and herky and we’re trying to serve balls over the top — and that creates problems.”

Missed opportunities can lead to turnovers which, against really strong, opportunistic opponents, can lead to goals against.

“If this is — pick a team, Barlow, Masuk, any of those guys — the giveaways, the lack of collective possession, those lead to goals on the other end. I think, going forward, that’s certainly something we need to clean up if we’re going to be as good as I think we can be,” Kenney said.

Last year, Kenney’s squad fell in the South-West Conference championship game and state tourney semifinals, and the coach believes his girls can again be in the mix of contenders.

The offense, Kenney is optimistic, will be a strength this fall. Granted the seven-goal outburst was against a significantly overmatched Kolbe squad, but a touchdown (and extra point) worth of net-finders is a lot. Amy Martin had a goal and two assists in the opener. Bridget Power, Tolla, Lynch, Jess Keller, Meaghan Brophy, and Buccino also scored. Ann Northrop, Lynch, Jesse Sailor, and Lydia Beiter all recorded assists.

Newtown’s scheduled Tuesday game against nonconference opponent East Haven was postponed because of rain, and the Hawks were slated to visit Stratford on Thursday (after The Bee went to press). NHS will host Notre Dame-Fairfield on Saturday, September 22, at 10 am, and then the schedule stands to toughen up beginning with a Monday visit to Masuk of Monroe at 3:45 p.m. After visiting Weston on September 27, the Hawks welcome Barlow of Redding to Blue & Gold Stadium for a September 29 clash at 7 pm.

Kenney has been pleased, and somewhat pleasantly surprised, with the defensive effort thus far.

“The great irony here is we graduated our three defenders from last year,” he noted.

Kenney said Northrop has done a nice job in filling in the void at center back, and is flanked by Julia Trudell and Beiter, both of whom have emerged as strong first-year starters on the back line. “They’ve picked it up really, really well,” Kenney said.

Kenney hopes the entire team will pick up its play as the season unfolds.