By Kim J. Harmon

With 18 goals and nine assists as a sophomore in 1998, Colleen Davis made her presence felt around the South-West Conference. With 18 more goals and six more assists as a junior in 1999, Colleen Davis made her presence felt around the state.

The Newtown High School striker – who helped lead the Lady Nighthawk soccer team to an 11-5-1 record and berth in the second round of the post-season tournament – recently was named to the CIAC Class L All-State team.

It was the final emphasis on another stellar season for the young forward, now 16, who has amassed 41 goals in her soccer career to place her fifth on the all-time Newtown High School scoring chart – behind such local legends as Melanie Huss (112 goals), Kim Pelletreau (61 goals), Kristy Unkel (50 goals) and Jen Reeher (48 goals).

“I think I learned a lot this year,” said Colleen. “Our whole team improved, which was the most important thing. I think my season did measure up to my expectations. (Coach John Kostelis’) new system provided a lot of opportunities for the front line.”

Maybe because of the kind of season she had as a sophomore, Colleen seemed to draw quite a lot of attention from opposing defenders – quite a lot of physical attention from those defenders.

“A lot of teams were very physical with us,” she said, “because they felt they had to be. But this new system brought out a lot of the talent on the team and no one was able to key on just one player. I loved playing this style because it created so many opportunities for all of us.”

Colleen gave a lot of credit for her success to her teammates, but especially to Jessica Oswald, who was often the conduit through which the offense passed, and to Shannon Rouse, whose explosive presence on the other side of the field (22 goals) drew a lot of the defensive attention.

Coach Kostelis was excited about the prospect of the success the team would have in 1999 and in the future and Colleen certainly goes along with the thinking that there is something special on the horizon for this young team.

“I think we can do something special,” she said, “because once we really get used to this system it will be more like repetition and we’ll be much better at it.”

Career Statistics

YEAR       G           A         PT

1997             5               0            10

1998           18               5            41

1999           18               6            42

Total           41             11            93