Girls’ Soccer Confident Despite First Loss

By Andy Hutchison

MONROE — Sure, the Nighthawks would have preferred to win the game, but the strong effort they put forth against one of their toughest South-West Conference rivals left Newtown High School girls’ soccer coach Marc Kenney satisfied for now. Newtown lost 2-0 at Masuk on Saturday night, but showed plenty of heart in their toughest game of the fall.

Kenney was hoping his Hawks would play solidly after he watched his team roll to an 8-0-1 start despite not playing up to the level he believed his team was capable of reaching. Kenney thought his team would have to play a much better brand of soccer to have a chance against Masuk and a couple of the other tough foes that await on the second-half schedule.

“They played hard. It was a great high school soccer game,” Kenney said after the defeat.

The Nighthawks generated some scoring chances, with Kasey Schulz, Tania Domingos, and Monica Warek all pressing deep in the Panthers’ end of the field.

Kenney pointed to the defensive play of Jen Brewer, Taylor Smith, and Ally Modzelewski, all of whom worked hard to keep Masuk’s forwards away from the goal area.

“I was pretty happy with the collective effort,” the coach added. “I’m proud of my team.”

He also liked what he saw in a 5-0 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield, a game in which all of his players had a chance to play, at home last Friday.

“I definitely think the camaraderie’s a lot stronger compared to the beginning of the season,” Warek said. “The communication level has definitely increased.”

The Nighthawks bounced back with a 3-0 win at Weston on Tuesday. They return home for a tough test against Joel Barlow Friday at 7 pm.

Newtown will get another shot at Masuk in the regular-season finale, at home on October 22. The Hawks will be happy to be home for that rematch (some of Masuk’s student-fans chose to be unsportsmanlike while rooting against Newtown as much they did for their school). No matter what the fans are like, it’s historically a good game between these rivals.

“I am looking forward to it. We have fun playing them. Every single time it’s a good game,” Warek said.

Last season, Newtown beat Masuk 2-0 and the Panthers went on to win the conference championship. Now that the Nighthawks have lost 2-0 to Masuk, Kenney is hopeful that the tables will turn in the form of his team’s first SWC title.

“If that happens I’ll be very pleased,” the coach said.