By Kim J. Harmon

With three carrots dangling in front of them, the Newtown High School boys’ soccer, field hockey and volleyball teams were unable to grab any of them.

The Nighthawks were 0-for-3 last week in South-West Conference championship games as the boys’ soccer side dropped a 1-0 decision to Joel Barlow, the field hockey team dropped a 4-0 decision to Pomperaug, and the volleyball team – with its undefeated season coming to an end – dropped a 3-1 decision to Joel Barlow.

That left Newtown – with a nifty 87-17-10 record this fall – with just one SWC title (girls cross country).

Read on:

VOLLEYBALL

Joel Barlow 3, Newtown 1

It is not easy playing against a team that refuses to make a mistake.

And despite the mistakes the Newtown High School volleyball team itself might have made in the South-West Conference championship last Saturday, it was Joel Barlow that decided the match and shocked the undefeated Lady Nighthawks, 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 9-25, 25-18).

“They dug well, blocked well, hit well,” said Newtown coach Tom Czaplinski, who had been eyeing his second SWC title. “They kept the ball on our side of the court. We couldn’t find a rhythm, but that was all Barlow. They played exceptionally well.”

The ‘Hawks dropped to 20-1 overall while the Falcons improved to 19-1.

The Falcons were in charge at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, right from the beginning. They built a lead as large as nine points in Game #1 before a Jordyn Good kill and Emily Loose service ace helped the ‘Hawks get back into it.

After Morgan Knees knocked down a kill and blocked a hard hit by Barlow’s Kristin Hanczor (intermingled with a pair of service aces by Good), the ‘Hawks had shaved the Barlow lead to 18-14. But that lead soon expanded to eight points and the Falcons coasted home from there.

Game #2 was eerily similar, with the Falcons building up an eight point lead (17-9) before the ‘Hawks started to rally. While Knees dominated in the middle, Megan Casey knocked down a kill and registered a block and soon enough the locals had pulled to within two points, 19-17.

But when Knees had a hard smash in the middle blocked by Hanczor, the momentum shifted back to Barlow.

Now in a position they have not been in all season, the ‘Hawks responded and overwhelmed the Falcons in Game #3. Down early, 4-3, a Good kill helped the ‘Hawks score eight consecutive points to take an 11-4 lead (Sarah Truitt tossed in a couple of soft service aces and Knees added a dink in there).

The Falcons rallied a bit, but three kills by Loose and a jump service ace by Casey put the locals up, 19-7. The Falcons got a couple of points back, but the ‘Hawks scored the final four points of the game on two great saves by Casey, an angry kill by Knees and a Good kill off a deflection.

When Game #4 opened and the locals had taken a quick 2-0 lead, it looked as if the ‘Hawks had recaptured the momentum for good.

But that was not the case as the Falcons went on a 14-3 run to take firm control of the game … and the match. The locals never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

“We made a lot more mistakes (than usual),” said coach Czaplinski, “and their defense was amazing. They did not let a ball drop.”

Jacqueline Shinall, Elizabeth Soltesz and Hanczor combined for 62 digs and 20 kills to power the Falcons. Jennifer Shinall added 21 assists. For Newtown, Knees finished with seven kills and three blocks while Loose added 12 kills and seven service aces. While Truitt tossed in 26 assists, she combined with Melissa Fracker and Casey for 38 digs.

Knees, Good and Casey were all named to the All-SWC team.

Seeded No. 1 in the CIAC Class LL state tournament, the ‘Hawks earned a first round bye and were set to host either South Windsor or Norwich Free Academy on Thursday at 5 pm.

FIELD HOCKEY

Pomperaug 4, Newtown 0

Hannah Tenenbaum and the Newtown High School field hockey team was hoping the element of surprise might work in their favor against Pomperaug in the South-West Conference championship game last week.

“The whole tournament was filled with surprises,” said Tenenbaum just moments after the Lady Nighthawks shut out Masuk, 2-0, in the semifinals at Weston High School. “Maybe we can surprise some people, too.”

Unfortunately, the only surprise was in how darn good Pomperaug turned out to be.

The ‘Hawks lost twice to the Lady Panthers during the regular season (their only two losses), but both times only a couple of goals separated the two teams. And so the ‘Hawks, boasting the best won-loss record in school history at 9-2-4, had good reason to believe an upset could be in the offing.

The Panthers, though, didn’t think so.

The Panthers won their 15th conference title in the past 16 years with a 4-0 pounding of the ‘Hawks last week. Liz Dunbar scored a pair of goals while Lauren Atkinson had a goal and an assist as the Panthers dominated the game from start to finish.

Pomperaug scored its first two goals in rapid succession, more than 25 minutes into the first half. The third came just a minute and 18 seconds in the second half. The final salvo, Dunbar’s second goal, came with 10 minutes left in the game.

Pomperaug had a 15-9 advantage in penalty corners and 8-3 advantage in shots on the cage.

The ‘Hawks moved on from the loss and opened the CIAC Class L state tournament on Wednesday against Norwalk. The locals were ranked #7 while the Lady Bears are ranked #10 while posting an 8-4-3 mark.

Should the ‘Hawks win, they would face the winner of the #2 Greenwich (13-2-1) and #18 Glastonbury (9-8-0) game on Friday in the Class L quarterfinals.

Pomperaug 4, Newtown 0

GOALS: Pomperaug – Liz Dunbar 2, Lauren Atkinson, Alex Melillo. ASSISTS: Pomperaug – Jaimie Orrico, Lauren Atkinson. SHOTS: Newtown – 3; Pomperaug – 8. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 1; Pomperaug – Julia Powell 3. PENALTY CORNERS: Newtown – 9; Pomperaug – 15.

BOYS SOCCER

Joel Barlow 1, Newtown 0

Grit, determination and good, old-fashioned hard work propelled the Newtown High School boys’ soccer team past New Milford, past Pomperaug, and into the South-West Conference championship game against Joel Barlow.

But sometimes – sometimes you just have to score.

The Nighthawks couldn’t and the Falcons earned the title with a 1-0 decision last week in Redding.

“I’m proud of the guys and how hard they worked,” said head coach Brian Neumeyer, who led his charges into the CIAC Class LL state tournament this week against Bristol Central. “They have been trying to find their own identity and get out of the shadow of the teams that have come before and they did really well.”

The teams that have come before – with guys like Marcus Tracy and Mike Troy up front – were prolific offensive powerhouses. Both Tracy and Troy had seasons in which they scored more goals than the entire 2007 Newtown team did.

But with some very tough defense, superb goaltending and a whole lot of determination the Nighthawks earned seven wins, drew even in five games, and survived penalty kick shootouts in the SWC quarterfinals and semifinals to reach the championship game for the sixth time in the last seven years.

They couldn’t keep the magic going, however. Just 3:28 into the game, Mike Flynn sent a corner kick into the box and Scott St. Cyr headed it past Newtown goaltender Dan Smith for the only goal of the game.

“We’re a team that can’t afford to give away goals,” admitted coach Neumeyer.

While the Nighthawks were back on their heals for the first several minutes of the opening half, they slowly settled down and began to control play for the rest of the half. The ‘Hawks managed a half dozen shots, but Barlow junior goaltender Cody Hickok – who recorded his 35th career shutout – was on top of his game.

“The guys really picked it up over the last couple games of the season,” said coach Neumeyer, “and from there we out-played the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the tournament. I’m proud of them.”

Joel Barlow 1, Newtown 0

GOALS: Joel Barlow – Scott St. Cyr. ASSISTS: Joel Barlow – Mike Flynn. SAVES: Joel Barlow – Cody Hickok 2; Newtown – Dan Smith 5.

FOOTBALL

Newtown 31, Joel Barlow 24

The pressure was on for Newtown High School freshman placekicker Rory Noonan and all he did was deliver a 32-yard field goal with no time left to send a South-West Conference battle with Joel Barlow into overtime.

Where the Nighthawks won on a five-yard touchdown run by Tyler Tarantino, back on the field after a few weeks hobbled on the sidelines with an ankle sprain.

The ‘Hawks rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit, taking a 14-10 lead in the third quarter on a pair of 10-yard touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jake DeVellis to seniors Bob Lapple and Conor Martin.

The Falcons scored on a five-yard run to open the fourth quarter, taking a 17-14 lead, but the locals answered right back on a 21-yard scoring strike from DeVellis to Jamie Goodwick.

But Robert Fiore of Barlow, who rushed for 161 yards on 19 carries, notched his third touchdown of the day on a one-yard bust to put the Falcons up 24-21 with time running out. The ‘Hawks, though, drove the ball down to the Joel Barlow 15 to set the stage for Noonan’s dramatic kick.

Tarantino then lifted Newtown to the win in the Kansas Tiebreaker overtime session.

The ‘Hawks – who allowed better than 400 yards rushing on the afternoon – improved to 6-2 overall and will visit Immaculate of Danbury on Friday for a 7 pm contest. The locals will then take a week off to prepare for the traditional Thanksgiving holiday battle with Masuk on Wednesday, November 21.

Newtown 31, Joel Barlow 24

Second quarter: Joel Barlow – Fiore 57 run (Colby kick), Joel Barlow – Colby 40 field goal. Third quarter: Newtown – Lapple 10 pass from DeVellis (Noonan kick), Newtown – Martin 10 pass from DeVellis (Noonan kick). Fourth quarter: Joel Barlow – Fiore 5 run (Colby kick), Newtown – Jamie Goodwick 21 pass from DeVellis (Noonan kick), Joel Barlow – Fiore 1 run (Colby kick), Newtown – Noonan 32 field goal. Overtime: Newtown – Tarantino 5 run (Noonan kick)

SWIMMING

7th at SWCs

For a while there, the Newtown High School girls’ swim team was on the top of the South-West Conference heap.

Now, Lauralton Hall has firmly regained its once familiar position and emphasized that last weekend in Monroe with a narrow win over Pomperaug in the SWC championship meet. The Lady Crusaders notched 423.5 points, a mere 17 ahead of the Lady Panthers.

Newtown – which finished 7-3 during the dual meet season while only losing to Hall, New Fairfield and Pomperaug – took seventh overall with 207.5 points. Brookfield, Weston and Masuk – teams the Lady Nighthawks defeated during the regular season – all slipped ahead of Newtown.

Jaclyn Van Waalwijk had the best performance for the locals, taking fourth in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles (about a second off the pace in the 50 and less than three seconds off the pace in the 100).

Leah Barrett earned a sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke at 1:06.05.

The 200 medley relay foursome of Barrett, Emma Atkinson, Lucy Remitz and Van Waalwijk turned its sixth seed into a fifth-place finish at 2:00.77, about five seconds behind New Fairfield. The 200 freestyle relay foursome (the same crew as in the 200 medley) grabbed a sixth-place finish at 1:49.25.

Meanwhile, Maggie Hoolehan, Maggie Atkinson and Colleen Carroll all improved their personal best times.

Emma Atkinson (200 individual medley and 100 breast), Van Waalwijk (50 and 100 free), Barrett (100 back), Annie Hull (100 free), Megan Baylis (100 breast), Maggie Atkinson (200 individual medley), Remitz (100 fly) and LizAnne Kroon (100 back and 500 free) were on their way to the CIAC Class LL meet this week.

Carroll will be swimming in a relay for Newtown’s nine-member contingent.

At the SWCs –

TEAMS – 1. Lauralton Hall 423.5, 2. Pomperaug 406, 3. New Fairfield 286, 4. Brookfield 281, 5. Weston 265, 6. Masuk 210, 7. Newtown 207.5, 8. Stratford 173, 9. Joel Barlow 146, 10. Bunnell 125, 11. New Milford 113, 12. Oxford 18.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS

200 medley relay – 1. New Fairfield (Grace Cassidy, Ashley Stockmann, Jen Poole, Danielle Laprine) 1:55.87, 2. Stratford 1:56.70, 3. Lauralton Hall 1:57.40, 4. Pomperaug 1:59.26, 5. Newtown 2:00.77, 6. Joel Barlow 2:02.80.

200 freestyle – 1. Ariel Bond (Lauralton Hall) 1:58.26, 2. Lauren Pappas (Bunnell) 2:00.70, 3. Kate O’Leary (Brookfield) 2:00.90, 4. Shelby Fortin (Weston) 2:01.65, 5. Jessica Broderick (Pomperaug) 2:01.79.

200 individual medley – 1. Katie Lang (Masuk) 2:13.89, 2. Heather Librizzi (Brookfield) 2:18.86, 3. Lauren Border (Weston) 2:19.24, 4. Grace Cassidy (New Fairfield) 2:20.85, 5. Ashley Stockmann (New Fairfield) 2:22.04, Rachel Bohn (Lauralton Hall) 2:22.44.

50 freestyle – 1. Teressa Garrity (Pomperaug) 25.21, 2. Erin Massey (Stratford) 25.31, 3. Danielle Laprine (New Fairfield) 26.17, 4. Jaclyn Vanwaalwijk (Newtown) 26.25, 5. Ashley Bresnahan (Lauralton Hall) 26.50, 6. Megan Condon (Bunnell) 26.63.

Diving – Carolyn DiMarco (Weston) 393.75, 2. Christina Brasco (Weston) 382.60, 3. Amie Fracker (Lauralton Hall) 290.45.

100 butterfly – 1. Katie Lang (Masuk) 1:00.32, 2. Heather Librizzi (Brookfield) 1:02.33, 3. Kathleen Marrese (Brookfield) 1:02.69, 4. Sondra McAdams 1:02.73, 5. Kristen Malski (Lauralton Hall) 1:02.79, 6. Kicinski (Stratford) 1:04.41.

100 freestyle – 1. Shelby Fortin (Weston) 53.99, 2. Erin Massey (Stratford) 54.55, 3. Teressa Garrity (Pomperaug) 56.14, 4. Jaclyn Vanwaalwijk (Newtown) 56.87, 5. J. Mesavage (Bunnell) 57.03.

500 freestyle – 1. Ariel Bond (Lauralton Hall) 5:18.08, 2. Lauren Pappas (Bunnell) 5:25.63, 3. Jessica Broderick (Pomperaug) 5:28.63, 4. A. McNeely (Stratford) 5:42.46, 5. Emily Howe (Masuk) 5:43.22, 6. Jill Mullaney (Lauralton Hall) 5:44.24.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Pomperaug (Danielle Hellstern, Julie Wallerstein, Jessica Broderick, Teressa Garrity) 1:44.19, 3. Weston 1:45.15, 4. Lauralton Hall 1:48.55, 5. Bunnell 1:48.58, 6. Newtown 1:49.25.

100 backstroke – 1. Rachel Bohn (Lauralton Hall) 1:02.92, 2. J. Barragan (Stratford) 1:03.37, 3. Beth Magin (Brookfield) 1:03.46, 4. Grace Cassidy (New Fairfield) 1:04.57, 5. Amanda Maughan (Pomperaug) 1:05.10, 6. Leah Barrett (Newtown) 1:06.05.

100 breaststroke – 1. Kristen Malski (Lauralton Hall) 1:08.15, 2. Kate O’Leary (Brookfield) 1:08.78, 3. Ashley Stockmann (New Fairfield) 1:09.63, 4. Rachel Krizan 1:12.31, 5. Leah Maturo (Oxford) 1:12.67, 6. Fitzmaurice (Lauralton Hall) 1:13.28.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Pomperaug (Danielle Hellstern, Julie Wallerstein, Jessica Broderick, Teressa Garrity) 3:45.99, Brookfield 3:46.94, 3. Weston 3:48.46, 4. Stratford 3:54.75, 5. Lauralton Hall 3:57.16.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

7th at CIAC State Open

Elise DeRoo continued to impress as she captured third place at the CIAC State Open last week at Wickham Park in Manchester.

Heather Stephens of Ridgefield finished first overall at 15:28, but it was a battle for second place between Katie Matthews of Rocky Hill and DeRoo. In the end, it was Matthews crossing in second at 15:38 and DeRoo slipping in two seconds later.

Newtown took seventh as a team while Glastonbury, Guilford and Ridgefield took the top three spots.

Jenn Brill was Newtown’s second runner, coming in 34th overall at 16:46. Sara Pollock (71st – 17:16), Anne Martino (81st – 17:20) and Carolyn Gingras (144th – 18:07) rounded out the top five.

Scarlett O’Sullivan (170th – 18:45) and Erin Nemeth (181st – 19:20) also ran well.

TEAMS – 1. Glastonbury 70, 2. Guilford 139, 3. Ridgefield 149, 4. Wilton 159, 5. Norwich Free Academy 174, 6. Hall 182, 7. (tie) Newtown and Amity 202, 9. Simsbury 267, 10. Shelton 276, 11. Portland 286, 12. E.O. Smith 322, 13. Darien 340, 14. (tie) Cheshire and RHAM 353, 16, Griswold 354, 17. Manchester 360, 18. St. Bernard 361, 19. East Hampton 435, 20. New Fairfield 535.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Heather Stephens (Ridgefield) 15:28, 2. Katie Matthews (Rocky Hill) 15:38, 3. Elise DeRoo (Newtown) 15:40, 4. Moira Kenny (Immaculate) 15:51, 5. Caroline McDonough (Darien) 15:59, 6. Irene Kalbian (Cheshire) 16:02, 7. Erica Hines (Fermi) 16:03, 8. Christine Vogel (Glastonbury) 16:04, 9. Meegan Joly (Norwich Free Academy) 16:05, 10. Katherine Beam (South Windsor) 16:07, 11. Kristin Mitchell (Glastonbury) 16:12, 12. Lindsay Crevoiserat (Glastonbury) 16:13, 13. Jenna London (Hall) 16:15, 14. Jackie Nicholas (Nonnewaug) 16:15, 15. Rosa Moriello (Naugatuck) 16:16, 16. Jeanne Theleen (Pomperaug) 16:19, 17. Isabella F Corso (Ridgefield) 16:20, 18. Kelly Flannigan (Middletown) 16:20, 19. Anna Shields( Lewis Mills) 16:22, 20. Stephanie Eldridge (RHAM) 16:24, 21. Annelies Gamble (Amity) 16:25, 22. Chelsea Bishop (Suffield) 16:26, 23. Alicia Kaestli (Staples) 16:28, 24. Lacey Vogel (Amity) 16:30, 25. Katie Collins (Immaculate) 16:31, 34. Jennifer Brill (Newtown) 16:46, 71. Sara Pollock (Newtown) 17:16, 81. Anne Martino (Newtown) 17:20, 144. Carolyn Gingras (Newtown) 18:07, 170. Scarlett O’Sullivan (Newtown) 18:45, 181. Erin Nemeth (Newtown) 19:20.