Newtown High School’s field hockey team got its first win of the year, and Coach Megan Goyda her first W since taking over the Nighthawks to start the campaign. Goyda’s Nighthawks blanked visiting South-West Conference foe New Milford 3-0 at Blue & Gold Stadium, on September 13.

“It’s awesome — I think especially against New Milford. They’re traditionally one of the top teams in the SWC,” Goyda said.

The Nighthawks were coming off a 3-0 setback to FCIAC team Fairfield Ludlowe in the season opener a few days before. A lot came together in a brief time for the Hawks.

“After the loss to Ludlowe the girls really flipped the switch and played Newtown field hockey. We held possession more and were smarter with the ball. We played more as a cohesive unit,” Goyda said.

Ellenoire Schoen factored in all three goals, registering two tallies and assisting on another. Abigail Ihlefeld had a goal, and Brooke Bulkley and Annika Bozentko each had an assist.

Goaltender Riley Alesevich did her part to preserve the shutout with Newtown’s field players limiting New Milford’s chances. In fact, the visiting Green Wave managed only a pair of penalty corners in the game.

“My defense was solid,” said Goyda, pointing to the efforts of back-liners Mo Murphy, Jenna Lagan, Reese Lischuk, and Jules Battaglia.

Newtown hosted another FCIAC team, Trumbull, at Treadwell Park a couple of days later, and fell 1-0. There is a plus side to taking on challenging out-of-conference squads.

“Those are the types of teams we’re going to play in states,” Goyda noted.

Newtown had a quick-turnaround rematch with New Milford, going on the road to face the Green Wave on September 18. “It’s kind of a good test of how fast we make adjustments,” said Goyda, adding that the Hawks scored on just one of nine corners in the first meeting and she went into the game looking to execute on more of those set play chances, as well as cashing in on rebound opportunities.

The Hawks got their offense going in a 4-2 victory over the Green Wave in the second meeting. Newtown capitalized on a pair of corners, making some progress in that department. The Hawks also put in some work on pouncing on rebounds in practice and registered a second-chance, putback goal.

Newtown built a 4-0 lead at the half and did not allow a Green Wave shot on goal until the second half; the Wave was held off the scoreboard until the mid to late stages of the fourth quarter.

The first goal came off a corner when Murphy banged home a pass from Rachael Albrecht 5:09 into the contest. Newtown made it 2-0 off another corner opportunity when Lagan sent the ball in from the top of the circle and Bulkley flicked it home with just 56 seconds to go in the first.

NHS added to its lead with another cage-finder only 48 seconds into the second quarter. Bulkley set up Schoen for a pretty reverse chip. The Hawks capped their scoring with 58 seconds to go before halftime when Albrecht put home a rebound of Schoen’s shot on goal.

Ihlefeld, Summer Harrell, and Murphy were strong up the middle in helping the transition from defense to offense, Bozentko contributed to the offense from her left wing position; Lischuk, Alexa Manfredonia, Jules Battaglia, and Lagan were solid on defense; and Bulkley helped set up the offense from her midfield position. Alesevich made some key late-game saves to help the Hawks maintain a big lead.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.