NHS Girls Booted From Postseason On Late Goal

By Andy Hutchison

WEST HAVEN — It looked for sure as if the Class LL state tournament semifinal girls’ soccer game on November 18 was headed to overtime. Newtown’s and Trumbull’s solid defenses yielded very few quality scoring chances and the time on the scoreboard clock was dwindling away. But, following 78-plus minutes of scoreless play, Trumbull ended a scramble for a loose ball in Newtown’s 18-yard box with a goal, and — for all intents and purposes — ended Newtown’s memorable season as well.

The goal, off the foot of Trumbull’s Lorraine Dedrick which deflected off an NHS defender and past goalkeeper Cait Yakush, came with just 1:49 left. It proved to be decisive as the No. 18 Eagles blanked the sixth-seeded Nighthawks 1-0 at neutral site West Haven High, to earn a trip to the championship game.

Yakush, who put herself into position to make saves look simple throughout the postseason run, which included a runner-up finish in the South-West Conference championship game, was fooled by the misdirection when the ball hit a Newtown player and rolled into the back of the net.

Both teams had early goals waived off — one on a handball and another because of an offside call.

“I just didn’t think we put it together today,” said Newtown senior captain/defender Maddy Keane, whose team worked hard but simply didn’t connect on passes and move the ball around as well as it has throughout most of the season.

“I was pleased with the effort, but I didn’t think we played as a team enough and I think that was the difference, where Trumbull did an excellent job of playing together,” Newtown Coach Marc Kenney said. “But we played hard.”

Newtown played hard throughout the year, and Kenney wasn’t about to overlook the overall success. “We had an incredible year. … I’ve never worked with a more special group of women and this hurts – and it’s going to hurt for awhile. But it still doesn’t diminish 16 wins, three wins in the double L tournament, and an appearance in the SWC final.”

Newtown will lose a small handful of key seniors, including defenders Keane and fellow captain Hannah Maret, along with Cassie Fallon. All of the starters and substitutes who got regular playing time throughout the other spots on the field, however, gained valuable experience which stands to pay off in the years to come.

“It’s going to take us a while to figure out who’s going to play back there,” Kenney said of replacing his back line. “But the other side of the coin, the positive side, is that I think we do have a nucleus — and a pretty good one — of really, really talented kids coming back from the midfield forward.”