By Kim J. Harmon

TRUMBULL – The Lady Nighthawks had already gotten by that first hurdle – that first game in the CIAC Class L state tournament – but were soon facing another . . . a really BIG hurdle in the form of Trumbull High School.

Trumbull was ranked fourth in Class L and for good reason – it was one of the best teams in the Connecticut.

Newtown found that out on Wednesday in the second round of the tournament. After spending 80 minutes just trying to get the ball away from a ball-hogging Trumbull offense, the ‘Hawks walked off the field saddled with a 2-0 loss and the end of the 1999 season.

The ‘Hawks fell to 11-5-1 on the season.

Trumbull was extremely strong to the ball, gathering up most of the loose ones and then quickly transitioning to offense. It liked to attack the wings, move down to the corners, and then cross into the box to take a crack at the goal.

The system worked. Midway through the first half, Trumbull scored the only goal it would need off a pooch shot just inside the box. Newtown goaltender Kate Bouteiller had attempted to reach a Trumbull pass into the penalty area, but was unable to reach it in time, and could only watch as the ball was lofted over her head into the goal.

With 9:04 left in the first half, Trumbull got back on the board. A hard shot inside the box rebounded off the left post and back to the foot of a Trumbull forward, who was able to put the ball where it wouldn’t come back.

That 2-0 lead held up the rest of the way.

The Newtown offense was unable to do much with the ball when it had control those few times during the game. The Trumbull defense was tough in the middle – the ‘Hawks favorite avenue of attack – and allowed just a few shots and no real challenging ones all game.

Things had gone considerably better for the ‘Hawks back on Monday, when they defeated Hall High School of West Hartford, 4-2, in the first round of the tournament. Shannon Rouse scored a pair of goals in that one with Jessica Oswald and Colleen Davis each adding one.

Newtown jumped out to a very quick lead in the game and found themselves ahead 2-0 within the first five minutes of play. On both goals – by Davis and Rouse – the Hall defense was left totally behind as both girls were able to break right through the line to be left alone with one-on-one shots.

“We played one- and two-touch very well,” said Rouse. “We played through the middle a lot and with Jess (Oswald) there, it gave us a lot of options.”

Later on in the half, the Lady Nighthawks went ahead 3-0 on a nifty passing attack. Kim Helfer pushed a pass to Davis, who rushed through the Hall defense and dumped off to Oswald. Oswald quickly touched to Rouse with perfect timing, finding Rouse streaking into the bottom behind her defender. Rouse needed to touch once to push the ball ahead and very nearly pushed it too hard. The Hall goaltender came out and collided with Rouse as she attempted a shot. Rouse maintained her feet, however, found the ball and punched it into an empty net.

Things were going so well for the ‘Hawks right then, but with 1:44 left in the half Hall changed the outlook of the game.

It was a pass into the penalty area that resulted in a goal, trimming Newtown’s lead to 3-1 and causing much consternation on the ‘Hawk bench during halftime.

“We lost our focus a little,” Rouse explained. “We play much better when we maintain our focus.”

The goal seemed to energize Hall, which started controlling a lot of the action in the second half of the game. Whereas in the first half, Hall was unable to put much pressure on the Newtown goal, in the second half it was making the ‘Hawk defense work much harder to maintain the lead.

And the best way to maintain a lead is to build on it. With 17:05 left to play. Stephanie Miles started it off with a steal of a Hall pass and a quick dump off to Rouse. Rouse then toughed to Oswald who, in a crush with the Hall defense, managed to get off a shot that bounced off the far post and into the goal for a 4-1 Newtown lead.

That should have dampened Hall’s spirits quite a bit, but the visitors came back with 15:35 to go and scored on a direct kick that trimmed the Newtown lead to 4-2.

That’s where it would stay, however, and the Lady Nighthawks were able to advance to the second round.

Last year, the ‘Hawks entered the tournament in similar circumstances (having a fine record although missing the South-West Conference playoffs), but where beaten in the first round by Windsor. The arrival of John Kostelis to town, and his installation of a new offense, gave the ‘Hawks confidence they could move further into the tournament.

“John’s style of play is a lot more adequate,” said Rouse. “It’s more of a team concept.”

Trumbull, though, proved to be too tough of a team in the second round.

PLAYERS            G   A PT

Shannon Rouse          19    5   24

Colleen Davis            15    2   17

Jessica Oswald            6    7   13

Morgan Haines            2    3    5

Erin Doyle                 4    0    4

Kim Helfer                 1    2    3

Catherine Foster         1    1    2

Kendall Zimmerman      0    2    2

Erin McDonald            0    1    1

Stephanie Miles           1    0    1

Cassie Bagaglio           1    0    1