High School Girls’ Soccer Team Gets Back To Winning; NHS Boys’ Booters Keep on Rolling Along

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team, clinging to a 1-0 halftime lead over Lauralton Hall of Milford at Treadwell Park on Monday, was in need of a win. Coach Marc Kenney told his players during the intermission that they had worked too hard to give up the lead and walk away with a tie or a loss.

The Nighthawks, unbeaten in their first ten games, hit a little skid last week, suffering their first loss and settling for their third and fourth ties of the season. Standing in the way of the Hawks getting back on the right track was a Lauralton team that was undefeated. That didn’t stop the Nighthawks from holding onto the slim lead and coming away with a 1-0 victory to improve to 9-4-1 overall. Lauralton suffered its first loss but stands at 9-1-3.

The Nighthawks, despite having just one loss, entered into the Lauralton game in fifth place in the South-West Conference, Kenney said, as a result of having so many ties. Wins are worth three points and ties just one. “It takes three ties to get a win,” Kenney points out. “When you tie a bunch of your games, even when you only have one loss, it really comes back to haunt you.”

Newtown lost 2-1 at Bunnell in Stratford on October 10, tied New Milford 1-1 on October 13 as Amy Martin scored a goal set up by Bridget Power, and played Brookfield to a scoreless deadlock two days later.

“After the start we had it sort of, I think, took a little bit of wind out of our sails,” Kenney said of the mini nonwinning slump. “But all of the games we’ve played in, we’ve played well.”

The Nighthawks played especially well against Lauralton, and got started early. Melissa Buccino took a crossing pass from Power and buried a shot about four minutes into the 80 minutes of game play.

“That’s big for us — scoring in the first four minutes,” Kenney said of his team finding the net and putting such a tough opponent back on its heels from the get-go.

The Nighthawks are battling for one of the top spots in the conference tournament and a possible first-round home game. If Newtown advances past the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, they will be sure to host their final-round opponent. The girls’ and boys’ conference championships are slated for November 3 at Newtown High.

Regardless of how far the Nighthawks go, if they keep playing the way they have been, Kenney will be happy with the effort.

“I don’t think I have ever been more proud of a team in my five years here and I would even say in my years of coaching,” said Kenney, adding that he pushes the players in practice and that they have been working hard. “I really feel like this is a special group.”

Speaking of special groups, Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team has been mostly dominant — unbeatable in fact — since opening the season with a loss. Newtown has allowed just one goal in its last seven games, and improved to 9-1-2 overall with a trio of wins this past week.

The Nighthawks edged New Milford 1-0 at Treadwell Park on October 13, blanked Brookfield 2-0 at Blue & Gold Stadium two days later, and crushed Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport 6-0 at Blue & Gold on Monday.

In the win over New Milford, defender Josh Barrett saved a goal by backing up goalkeeper Austin Puleri, who slowed down a high, hard shot with his hands, heading the ball out of harms way. Ryan Dunnigan set up Pat Riccardi for the lone goal.

Against Brookfield, Logan Puleri and Nate Kalra both found the back of the net and Eric Fiore earned an assist.

In the Kolbe triumph, Newtown built a 5-0 halftime lead and cruised to victory behind the scoring of Stephen Jarvis, Nick Barreto, Drew Sullivan, Riccardi, Charlie Helgren, and Trevor Carey. Dunnigan and Kalra each had two assists, and Barreto and Logan Puleri both had one helper.

“We wanted to do well at home, which we’ve been able to do,” said Newtown Coach Brian Neumeyer, whose team had one more home game remaining (Thursday against Oxford, after The Bee went to press). “We want to make sure we play well Thursday night and just get ourselves in a good spot as far as playing well before the tournament.”

After visiting Bethel and Immaculate of Danbury October 22 and 24, the Hawks will begin SWC playoff action, likely as one of the top-seeded home teams, October 28 or 29.