Girls’ Soccer Season Ends In Second Round

By Andy Hutchison

SHELTON — Newtown High School girls’ soccer senior captains Kristen Tanner, Taylor Smith and Ally Modzelewski walked off the soccer field in their Newtown uniforms for the last time. All three players have been part of the varsity program since they were freshmen and their tremendous blue and gold run came to an end on November 11.

Newtown, the No. 11 seed in the Class LL State Tournament, fell to No. 6 Shelton 5-0 in the tourney’s second round.

“They’ve been outstanding and we’re really going to miss them,” said Newtown Coach Marc Kenney, referring to not only the captains but also senior goalkeeper Katie Pessin and senior Meghan Bridges.

The Nighthawks, who went 8-3-4 in the regular season, advanced in the first round of states with a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 22 Trumbull at home on Monday night.

Following a throw-in by freshman Bridget Power, sophomore Arianna Papaj crossed the ball to freshman Melissa Buccino, who followed up her initial shot, broke through a cluster of Trumbull defenders and goalkeeper Ariel Braunstein, and broke a scoreless tie with shot inside the 18-yard box with 20:32 remaining. “I just saw her break through everyone,” said Papaj, who started to celebrate as Buccino booted the ball. Newtown’s defense preserved the shutout, sparking a celebration following a ten-day layoff after a hard-to-swallow double overtime loss to Masuk in the South-West Conference quarterfinals.

“I told them all along that if we show up and play with the intensity and the effort and the energy that we showed against Masuk in the SWC quarters I thought we were going to have a good chance to win the game,” Kenney said. “They decided at halftime that we were going to win this game against an absolutely tremendous Trumbull team.”

“I’m just so excited we got to the second round,” Buccino said.

“We worked together to do it,” Modzelewski added.

But in the second round Newtown fell behind early against a taller and bigger Shelton lineup.

“They were tough for us physically,” Kenney said.

Despite the outcome, the season as a whole could be considered a success for the Nighthawks who had lost ten players to graduation last year.

“For us to do what we’ve done over the course of the season, to beat the teams that we’ve beaten — just a great effort collectively. It was a testament to their effort every day in practice and I’m so proud of them,” Kenney said.

“I think we did extremely better than anyone expected,” Modzelewski added.