Newtown High School’s field hockey and girls’ soccer teams concluded their regular seasons on October 22, with the field hockey team hosting Bethel and the soccer team visiting Pomperaug of Southbury. The field hockey team, with a 2-1 win over Bethel, locked up a state playoff spot.

The Nighthawks defeated Brien McMahon of Norwalk 3-2 at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 21, then edged Bethel at home two nights later. Newtown needed a win and at least a tie in its final two games to clinch a state playoff berth with a minimum .400 winning percentage. The Nighthawks finished the year with an overall record of 7-9 which equates to a .438 winning percentage.

In the win over McMahon, the Nighthawks got two goals from Caroline Chocholak and one off the stick of Emily Campbell. The victory ended a string of five straight contests in which the Hawks were shut out.

Newtown avenged a 2-0 setback to Bethel back on October 7 as Brianna Scalfani and Caroline Tanner scored. Tanner snapped a 1-1 tie late in regulation to win the game. The field hockey team missed qualifying for the South-West Conference tournament, but will get back to game action with state tourney play, beginning with qualifying round contests on November 3 and first round games on November 5.

The soccer team went into its final game having won three straight contests and looking to bolster its state playoff positioning, but lost 3-0. The Nighthawks, despite their recent winning ways, fell short of qualifying for the South-West Conference Tournament; Newtown and Bethel finished with identical 5-4-4 records in the SWC, but Bethel, having beaten Newtown, earned the tiebreaker and, thus, the tourney’s eighth and final seed. Newtown finished the season with an overall record of 6-5-5. The team tied Pomperaug earlier this campaign. State tourney action will commence with playdown games on November 1 and first round action three days later.

The Nighthawks earned shutouts in three straight games; after blanking Stratford 4-0 on October 14, they toppled visiting Kolbe Cathedral 8-0 on October 17 and defeated Notre Dame-Fairfield 2-0 on October 21.

In the win over Kolbe, Brenna Kelly, Jess Keller, and Hailey Conrad each had a goal and an assist, and Sarah Houle, Julia Sughrue, Amanda Albanesi, Samantha Dion, and Sarah Lynch all scored. This was Lynch’s first game this season after recovering from an offseason injury sustained while playing basketball. Newtown backup goalkeeper Meghan Doyle needed to make only one save to earn the shutout. Kolbe is coached by Danielle Norris, who played for Newtown Coach Marc Kenney in 2007 and 2008.

The Nighthawks hosted Notre Dame on Senior Night at Blue & Gold Stadium. Houle scored a goal assisted by Conrad, and Conrad scored a goal set up by Sughrue. Keeper Alyssa Ruefenacht made seven saves.

State tournament pairings will be listed by noon on Friday, October 31, at casciac.org.