By Kim J. Harmon

TRUMBULL – No one was willing to give the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team – even as strong as it has been this year – much of a chance in its CIAC Class LL state tournament quarterfinal match with Trumbull.

Trumbull was the #1-ranked team in Class LL.

The #1-ranked team in the state.

The #3-ranked team in the nation.

State champions four of the last five years.

FCIAC champions the last six years.

And one of its players – Manya Makoski – was a nationally-recognized talent.

So, how could the Nighthawks have much of a chance? But (drawing on images of the events that inspired the movie Braveheart), they found that they did – they sure did, playing an exceptional first half with three superb scoring opportunities (the best off a free kick by Alex Helfer) before being finally worn down by the Golden Eagles, 3-1.

“In my heart,” said senior co-captain Kim Helfer, “I absolutely thought we could win that game. I could just feel it.”

The ‘Hawks went after the Golden Eagles as if they ALL felt it. Since a 9th seed earned the ‘Hawks a bye into the second round and a 3-1 win over 8th-seeded Amity Regional earned them a trip to the quarterfinals, the ‘Hawks knew that what was left was the upper crust of Class LL and no one said it going to get any easier.

“The intensity level for the game was just incredible,” said Helfer. “If there was a good way to go out, that was it.”

It became clear right away, though, that the ‘Hawks were in the game with Trumbull and aimed to be in it until the last moment. Chelsea Morin and Mary Anders challenged the Trumbull defense to make the big stops while defensive backs Kelley Haines and Kim Helfer provided a pretty good wall in front of fill-in goaltender, Caroline Kunkel.

“Everyone was on the same page,” said Helfer. “Everyone listened to what (coach) Rupert (de los Reyes) said and what the captains said. We had nothing to lose.”

In fact, the ‘Hawks played so well, the game was heading for a 0-0 tie after the first 40 minutes. But Kunkel – who had made one solid save and two nice moves to protect the goal against a strong Trumbull offense – was beaten by Jess Stamos with just four minutes left in the half.

Alex “Gator” Helfer nearly tied the score with less than two minutes to go on a direct kick from just outside the penalty area. She hammered the ball to the upper right corner of the net, but goaltender Amie Begg knocked it away.

The ‘Hawks did tie the score in the second half, though, off the foot of Siobhan Cooper. She was assisted by Gator. But Makoski, who had been defended so well through the first 60 minutes of the game, finally broke through and scored a pair of unanswered goals to lift the Golden Eagles to the 3-1 win.

The loss dropped the ‘Hawks to 14-5-0 on the year and with a team comprised largely of freshmen and sophomores, that still is mighty good – and a fine sign for the future of the girls’ soccer program at Newtown High School.