By Kim J. Harmon

The field hockey team continues to carry the torch for Newtown High School.

While three Newtown teams took an early exit from their respective CIAC Class LL state tournament, the field hockey team’s amazing run continues … right to the CIAC Class L state championship game this Saturday at 2 pm at Wethersfield High School.

Read on –

FIELD HOCKEY

Newtown 2, Greenwich 0

Newtown 2, Brien McMahon 1

It’s wasn’t a fluke.

Just four days after a stunning 2-0 win over #2 Greenwich last week – earned on two penalty strokes by Courtney Gleason – raised more than a few eyebrows and got more than a few pairs of lips muttering a five-letter word (fluke), the Newtown High School field hockey team backed it up with a thrilling, 2-1, come-from-behind win over No. 3 Brien McMahon on Tuesday afternoon at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

“We wanted to prove we were a legit team,” said Gleason, who scored both goals within a 90-second span on penalty corners. “A lot of coaches from our conference and the surrounding conferences believe (the win over Greenwich) was a fluke and it was luck and we wanted to prove that we were legit.”

They had a tough time proving it, though, as they did not seem – through the first 40 minutes of the game – to have the same intensity that carried them past a fast, hard-hitting Greenwich team. On Tuesday, the Lady Senators had the better of play thanks to the magnificent stick ability of #30, Madonna Wadolowski.

It was Wadolowski who had the first big chance of the game, too, with about 10 minutes gone in the second half. Moving fast, she ripped through the middle of the Newtown defense and into the strike circle where she had a one-on-one chance against Newtown goalie Lisa Isabella, but Isabella – who has registered 11 shutouts this season – stoned her cold.

About two minutes later, the Lady Nighthawks had a great chance of their own off a penalty corner, but missed out.

The Lady Senators fired the first salvo with 16:24 left to play with some nifty ball movement off a penalty corner and a shot just inside the right post. Lauren Madaffari got credit for the goal while Rachel Ramsey had the assist.

As hard as the ‘Hawks have played and as far as they have gone, the goal could have sucked the air right out of them.

But it didn’t.

“We wanted this game so bad,” said Gleason. “We wanted it with all our hearts.”

And then they went about taking it back.

“The kids didn’t give up, didn’t stop playing,” said head coach Kathy Davey, who has, thus far, seen her charges put together an incredible 13-3-4-0 mark. “That’s how they pulled it out. I knew they had it in them.”

But for the next four minutes, the ‘Hawks still failed to penetrate the Brien McMahon defense or really challenge goaltender Iliania Begetis. That forced coach Davey to take a much-needed timeout with some 12 minutes to go.

“They had 12 minutes left and that’s what I told them,” she said. “You have 12 minutes – leave it all out on the field.”

That timeout spurred everyone on.

“That timeout knocked us back on our feet,” said Gleason. “We saw how much she wanted it and we wanted it for her.”

With about eight minutes left to play, the Newtown pressure began to mount and the ‘Hawks earned a series of four consecutive penalty corners. Though none resulted in a goal, the last – a shot taken by Gleason – rifled by the cage and set a tone.

With a little more than four minutes left, the ‘Hawks officially began their season-saving rally when Gleason took the penalty corner feed from Hannah Tenenbaum at the top of the strike circle and fired a shot that deflected slightly off the ground and through the sea of sticks and bodies into the cage.

About 90 seconds later, the locals were back at it. This time, Gleason’s shot was stopped cold by Brien McMahon. But Gleason pushed the ball left, got low, and pushed a hard shot into the cage to put Newtown on top, 2-1.

In the frantic moments that followed, the ‘Hawks held off the Lady Senators and set a date for the CIAC Class L championship game on Saturday at 2 pm at Wethersfield High School. Their opponent? No. 5 Stamford, which defeated Amity (7-1), New Milford (1-0 in OT) and Ridgefield (1-0 in OT) to advance.

The #7 Nighthawks opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over #10 Norwalk and then faced one of their toughest foes of the season, #2 Greenwich, which had blasted Glastonbury, 6-1, to advance into the second round.

The Lady Cardinals entered the game with 14 wins and better than 50 goals scored on the year and showcased a hard-hitting front line that fired 16 shots on the goal. Not only did the defense hold, but Isabella – under a tremendous onslaught – made four spectacular saves to preserve the shutout.

“I knew I had to stay cool, calm and collected – just like Mr. Davey always tell me,” said Isabella. “I knew if I just hit the ball out, the girls would come back and clear it.”

The ‘Hawks withstood the pressure and, then, put some pressure of their own on the goal. That pressure resulted in the Lady Cardinals, twice, committing first-half infractions that resulted in penalty strokes.

Gleason took both and lifted both past Greenwich goaltender Ingrid Smith.

Now the ‘Hawks are set to play #5 Stamford, which entered the tournament at 12-3-0-1. The Black Knights have scored better than 50 goals, but lost twice to Greenwich and once to Brien McMahon and Norwalk – teams that Newtown has a combined 3-0-0-0 record against.

Newtown 2, Greenwich 0

GOALS: Newtown – Courtney Gleason 2. SHOTS: Newtown – 9; Greenwich – 16. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 4; Greenwich – Ingrid Smith 2. PENALTY CORNERS: Newtown – 4; Greenwich – 9.

Newtown 2, Brien McMahon 1

GOALS: Newtown – Courtney Gleason 2; Brien McMahon – Lauren Madaffari. SHOTS: Newtown – 6; Brien McMahon – 8. SAVES: Newtown – Lisa Isabella 7; Brien McMahon – Iliana Begetis 4. PENALTY CORNERS: Newtown – 9; Brien McMahon – 14.

FOOTBALL

Newtown 28, Immaculate 7

The Immaculate High School football team had front row seats to the Jake DeVellis show last Friday night and left the theater collectively shaking their heads.

DeVellis amassed 309 total yards – 184 through the air on 8-of-11 passing and 125 on the ground with 19 carries – and two touchdowns to lead Newtown to a convincing 28-7 win over the Mustangs at Blue & Gold Stadium.

With the win, the Nighthawks improved to 7-2 overall and moved up to seventh in the CIAC Class LL rankings. Though it seems like a long shot that the ‘Hawks could leapfrog Norwich Free Academy (6-2), Fairfield Prep (7-2) and Bridgeport Central (7-1) to earn a playoff berth, a win over Masuk next Wednesday would certainly give the locals a chance.

Now, many Newtown fans were no doubt expecting an easy time on Senior Night since the Mustangs came into the game at 2-6, having been out-scored by better than 110 points on the year.

But it was the Mustangs who made the first impression on the game on an 18-yard touchdown pass from J.O. Goode to Chris Bader with 4:23 left in the first period. The TD came on a fourth-and-four play, a short dump off pass over the middle.

The Nighthawks answered back just over three minutes later – 3:01 to be exact – when DeVellis fired a nice post-pattern pass to Kurt Nacewicz for a 34-yard touchdown.

Late in the second period, with Charlie LoBosco subbing in for DeVellis, the ‘Hawks drove down the field largely on the legs of senior co-captain Tyler Tarantino (11 carries for 43 yards on the night) and once they reached the Immaculate 14, LoBosco hit Conor Martin in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown that put the locals ahead, 14-7, at the half.

The ‘Hawks made a couple of plays following that touchdown that looked like they would break open the game.

With two minutes left in the first half, Jeremy Yapp seemingly forced a fumble at the Immaculate 39, but the runner was ruled down by contact. And early in the third quarter, Nacewicz scooped a punt off the ground, on the run, and appeared on his way to the house until the ball was knocked out of his hands at midfield.

The Mustangs were unable to capitalize in either case. And with 8:08 left in the third, DeVellis got the ‘Hawks back in the end zone. Set up at the Newtown 20, DeVellis stepped out of the pocket to elude some tacklers, ran right, and threw a beautiful pass down the right sidelines to Bob Lapple for an 80-yard touchdown and a 21-7 Newtown lead.

In the fourth, Kyle McNamara stopped an Immaculate drive when he intercepted a Goode pass at the two with 10:50 left to play. Though the ensuing drive went nowhere and the locals were forced to punt, Bret LeBlanc picked off an Immaculate pass – on the first play of the drive – and brought it down to the 21.

A DeVellis keeper brought the ball down to the one and, from there, senior Gabe Giusti put the final emphasis on the win with a touchdown.

Freshman kicker Rory Noonan added all four extra points.

Through nine games, the ‘Hawks have scored 234 points (26.0 per game) and allowed 140 (15.5 per game). In contrast, 8-1 Masuk has scored 340 points (37.8 per game) and allowed just 94 (10.4 per game) and is currently ranked fourth in Class L, needing a win to hold off Newington and Pomperaug to qualify for a playoff berth.

Newtown 28, Immaculate 7

First period: Immaculate – Bader 17 pass from Goode (Bader kick); Newtown – Nacewicz 34 pass from DeVellis (Noonan kick). Second period: Newtown – C. Martin 14 pass from LoBosco (Noonan kick).Third quarter: Newtown – Lapple 80 pass from DeVellis (Noonan kick). Fourth period: Newtown – Giusti 1 run (Noonan kick).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

 

Rushing: Newtown – Jake DeVellis 19-125, Tyler Tarantino 11-43, Brendan Martin 3-39, Jaime Goodwick 2-17, Gabe Giusti 1-1, Charlie LoBosco 1-minus 2; Immaculate – J.O. Goode 2-35, Anthony Biasetti 18-30, Matt Mascolo 3-14, Brendan Bader 1-minus 1. Passing: Newtown – Jake DeVellis 8-for-11 for 184 yards, Charlie LoBosco 1-for-2 for 14 yards; Immaculate – J.O. Goode 6-for-22 for 99 yards, Matt Mascolo 0-for-0. Receiving: Newtown – Bob Lapple 3-125, Conor Martin 4-63, Kurt Nacewicz 2-35; Immaculate – Matt Mascolo 3-39, Dan Curtis 1-27, Nick Rebiero 1-19, Chris Bader 1-17.

GIRLS SOCCER

Glastonbury 2, Newtown 0

How could such a wonderful, promising season come to such a dismal, disappointing end? That’s the question that may haunt the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team for some time.

Riding a stellar 15-0-1 record, the Lady Nighthawks – ranked No. 2 in Class LL – slipped and fell in the South-West Conference semi-finals … and did not stop falling until #15 Glastonbury posted a stunning, 2-0, win at Blue & Gold Stadium back on Wednesday, November 7.

Glastonbury went on to lose to #10 Amity.

Newtown went on home.

After a shocking loss to Bethel in the SWC semifinals stopped Newtown’s quest for a championship, the Lady Nighthawks appeared poised to bounce back. After all, a disappointing SWC tournament loss in 2004 didn’t preclude the locals from capturing a CIAC Class LL state championship.

That wouldn’t happen this time.

Though the ‘Hawks seemed to control play off the opening whistle, it was the Lady Tomahawks (11-5-2) who sucked the air out of the stadium when they took a 1-0 lead on a corner kick. And while the locals failed to equalize the score a some minutes later when an apparent gimme was punched over the cross bar, it was a long floater later in the half – one which was misplayed at the top of the box and allowed Glastonbury to take a 2-0 – that was an even bigger blow to the Nighthawks.

Despite an impassioned halftime speech by head coach Marc Kenney, the ‘Hawks failed to respond in the second half.

Tania Domingos and Kasey Schulz were bottled up all game by the Glastonbury defense and there was no help coming. The locals managed just six shots in the second half and finished with only 10 for the game.

Though Domingos and Schulz will be back on the field with the bulk of the team in 2008, it was the lost to Glastonbury was the last game for senior co-captains Gabby Nastri, Megan Hansen and Colleen Thornberg.

Glastonbury 2, Newtown 0

GOALS: Glastonbury – Kerriann Welch, Alexandra Rotondo. ASSISTS: Glastonbury – Alexandra Rotondo, Kristen Ramsay. SHOTS: Newtown – 10; Glastonbury – 13. SAVES: Newtown – Emily Kluga 6; Glastonbury – Carolyn Brown 6. CORNER KICKS: Newtown – 5; Glastonbury – 1.

VOLLEYBALL

NFA 3, Newtown 2

It looked as if the Newtown High School volleyball team was going to overcome the disappointment of losing to Joel Barlow in the South-West Conference championship.

With a 2-1 lead on Norwich Free Academy in the second round of the CIAC Class LL state tournament last week, the #1 Lady Nighthawks let it all slip away as the #16 Lady Wildcats rallied back from a small deficit in the fourth game to force the fifth and deciding game.

Where the ‘Cats secured the match and finished off the 25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13 win.

NFA took the opening game of the Class LL tilt, but the ‘Hawks took the next two by identical scored of 25-19. Morgan Knees and Emily Loose played particularly well in the second game and in the third the locals appeared to be gaining a lot of confidence.

The ‘Cats, though, shifted the momentum as their primary hitter, Lindsay Makowicki, registered an incredible 30 kills.

The ‘Hawks dropped to 20-2 on the year. The locals won 63 of the 80 games played in those 22 matches and registered 12 sweeps long the way.

But a season that saw that ranked No. 1 in LL and among the best in the state polls still ended prematurely … especially for seniors Morgan Knees, Melissa Fracker, Emily Loose, Sarah Truitt and Michelle Narayanan.

Meanwhile, NFA went on to the quarterfinals where it was swept by #8 Danbury.

 

BOYS SOCCER

Bristol Central 1, Newtown 0

With the strength of the CIAC Class LL field, the #20 Newtown High School boys’ soccer team couldn’t have been hoping for too much at the start of the state tournament last Wednesday – just an opportunity to keep playing.

The 13th-ranked Bristol Central Rams denied them that chance, though, with a 1-0 first round win in Bristol.

The Nighthawks dropped to 9-5-6 on the year.

Though the locals did not have the kind of firepower they have been accustomed to in years past, they battled their way to a 7-3-4 regular season record and then earned penalty kick wins over New Milford and Pomperaug to reach the South-West Conference championship.

There, they dropped a 1-0 decision to arch-rival Joel Barlow.

And even though the season ended early in the Class LL tournament, the ‘Hawks had tremendous play all season from guys like goaltender Dan Smith, defensemen Mat DeBrantes and Matt Slattery, midfielders Andrew Domingos, John Gouveia, Evan Kennedy and Andrew Meisel, and forward Connor Collier.

Eight seniors played their last game for Newtown – including Smith, DeBrantes, Kyle DiNicola, Neris Halili, Dayton Horvath, Ryan Hudock, Sean Ryan and Matthew Wright.