Newtown High Teams Head Into South-West Conference Tournaments

By Andy Hutchison

It’s the time of year already — postseason is underway and about to be in full swing. Newtown High School’s cross country teams already ran in their South-West Conference championships and many of the other fall teams will begin SWC tourney action on October 30 with quarterfinal round contests.

The field hockey, soccer, and volleyball tourneys will unfold during the first week of November. Seedings and matchups had not been announced prior to The Bee sports section’s press time since the regular season continued into Wednesday for some teams. Quarterfinal rounds for field hockey and boys’ and girls’ soccer are scheduled for October 30 and 31, with the girls’ volleyball tournament commencing on November 2. Here’s an update of the Newtown High teams as they gear up for the playoffs:

Field Hockey Team Swings For Repeat

The field hockey team, coming off last year’s SWC title run, carried a 9-4-1 record into Thursday’s finale with the team Newtown defeated in last year’s pinnacle game, Pomperaug of Southbury. The Nighthawks carried four wins and a tie in their five games leading up to the Pomperaug contest after a somewhat shaky start to the campaign.

“The biggest thing we need to improve upon is playing consistently. We’ve definitely had such and up and down season — it’s hard to tell which team is going to come out on the field,” NHS Coach Amanda Hadgraft said of her squad.

Late-season winning ways have Hadgraft feeling a lot better about her team.

“They’re starting to play consistently. They’re starting to play together,” the coach said.

Newtown blanked Weston 1-0 in an at times rough home finale with Weston on October 23. Three Nighthawks had to leave the field following collisions and balls and sticks to the face. Lisa Vendel scored the only goal.

Girls’ Booters Shoot For Rebound

Following a tie in their season opener and a loss in game two, the Nighthawks went on to go unbeaten during an 11-game stretch (8-0-3) before dropping their last two games of the regular season. Newtown fell 2-0 at Bunnell of Stratford on October 23 and 1-0 at New Milford on October 26 to finish the campaign 8-3-4. The Nighthawks, led by senior captains Kristen Tanner, Ally Modzelewski and Taylor Smith, senior goalkeeper Kate Pessin and a wealth of underclassmen — including freshmen Amy Martin and Brittany Tolla — will try to get back to the SWC championship game. Newtown lost to Masuk in the final a year ago and somewhat avenged that defeat with a 1-0 regular season win on October 10.

Boys’ Have New Attitude

Newtown High’s boys’ soccer team, after starting the season 9-1-1, lost consecutive 1-0 games to Joel Barlow and New Fairfield.

“It’s not that we were the worst team in either of those two matches. I think we can compete with those teams in the postseason,” Coach Brian Neumeyer said of his team’s rare stumble this season.

The Nighthawks bounced back with a solid effort and a 2-0 win over Bunnell of Stratford at Treadwell Park on October 23. Adam Buccino and Eric Thornberg scored goals in the win.

The Nighthawks then lost 3-0 to New Milford on October 26, in their last home match, and were scheduled to visit Brookfield on October 28.

Newtown heads back to the postseason where things ended in tough-to-swallow fashion a year ago. Newtown was eliminated from both the conference and state tournaments in penalty kicks following scoreless overtimes.

“It’s definitely in the backs if the minds of our older guys, but we’re not worried about the past,” Thornberg said. “We’re focused on this season.”

“Every year it’s kind of a new journey. … We’re on a different path with this year’s team,” Neumeyer added.

Spiking The Competition

Winning has been a regular occurrence for the girls’ volleyball team which, following a 3-0 win at Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport, stood at 13-3 heading into the regular season finale with Joel Barlow on October 30.

Newtown beat Oxford in three games on October 23 behind 24 assists and 8 serving aces by Jess Lynch, 8 kills by Megan Casey, 8 digs by Abbey Doski, and 6 kills by Carly Iwanicki.

Coach Tom Czaplinski said, after that win over Oxford, that the team just is not playing up to its level of capability.

“We’re doing well in the sense that we’re winning but I guess … it means more how we play — not so much of how their record is,” the coach said.

“What we’re capable of doing and what we’re doing are two completely different things,” he added. “We’re nothing more than a serving team. We live and die by our serve. Our passing, outside of [October 23] has been very consistent as well, so the two most important things in volleyball — which are passing and serving — we do well with.”

But Czaplinski wants to see stronger defensive play, better communication and a more effective job of putting points away.

“We need to play at the next level — which is what we’re capable of — but, for some reason, we just can’t bring it all together,” the coach added.

The Nighthawks will begin postseason with an SWC tourney quarterfinal round match on November 2.

Newtown’s volleyball teams (including the junior varsity squad), on October 23, held a Dig Pink fundraising event to raise money for the Side-Out Foundation, which will support health care professionals in the battle with breast cancer. The teams wore pink shirts and collected more than $1,200 for the event, spearheaded by Casey, her teammates and team parents.

“I think it’s something that hits close to home for everyone,” said Casey, who was first exposed to this type of fundraiser with her Connecticut Juniors travel team.

Czaplinski was encouraged by the support, not only from the Newtown athletic community but also visiting Oxford’s fans.

“It’s great to see everybody promote it,” the coach said.