Field Hockey Team Wins And Girls' Soccer Postponed As State Playoffs Begin
(Update: The girls' soccer game time on Wednesday, November 9, was changed from 2 pm to 3 pm.)
Fresh off its South-West Conference championship, on November 4, Newtown High School's field hockey team was back at it with the start of the Class L State Tournament, on November 7.
Seeded 15th in the bracket, the Nighthawks held off No. 18 Conard of West Hartford for a 4-3 qualifying round win at Blue & Gold Stadium.
After surrendering the game's first goal, the Nighthawks got the next four. Alison Kelleher and Emma Schmid-Tharnish scored late in the first half, and Megan Goyda and Lauren Zimmerman notched penalty stroke cage-finders for much-needed insurance in the second half.
Conard scored twice in a span of 22 seconds in the final minute and a half to put a little scare into the Nighthawks before they held on.
The Nighthawks will visit No. 2 Enfield in the first round, on Wednesday, November 9, beginning at 5 pm.
Newtown's girls' soccer team was scheduled to begin state tourney action on November 7 but, due to a seeding error by the CIAC, the Class LL and Class L first-round games were postponed. The Suffield High team was incorrectly placed in the Class L tourney when the success in tournament factor used in designating soccer tournament divisions should have placed Suffield in Class LL.
The brackets were reseeded and the Newtown girls earned the eighth seed in Class LL; they're scheduled to begin the state playoffs against Brien McMahon of Norwalk on Wednesday, November 9. The game will take place at Blue & Gold Stadium, beginning at 3 pm. Second-round games were rescheduled for Friday, November 11, with quarterfinals bumped to Sunday, November 13.
On the boys' pitch, the No. 18 Nighthawks are slated to visit No. 15 Southington in the Class LL bracket's first round, on Tuesday, November 8, beginning at 6 pm.
Newtown High's girls' volleyball team, seeded eighth in the LL bracket, will begin state tournament play on Thursday, November 10, following a first-round bye, when No. 9 Glastonbury visits for a 6 pm second-round start.
The State Open cross country meet was held at Manchester's Willbrook Park, on November 4. The Newtown girls, behind Lu Hage's 14th-place finish, came in 12th.
For complete state tournament information, including seedings and matchups, visit the tournament page at