Another season of Newtown-New Fairfield co-op hockey is underway as the puck dropped for opening night Wednesday when Fox Lane of New York visited Danbury Ice Arena.

The team features 15 Newtown skaters and ten from New Fairfield and comprises ten seniors, nine juniors, and five sophomores broken into 13 forwards, nine defensemen, and a trio of goaltenders.

Among the key returnees is senior Alex Schmidt, who led the Nighthawks in scoring last winter. Schmidt is joined on offense by fellow Newtown representatives, senior center Blake Ballard and senior Ryan Anderson. On the blueline the top D-men coming back include senior Sebastion Cilia, who doubles as an offensive threat, along with senior Ashton Albert and junior Andrew Sanchez, all from New Fairfield. The returning netminders are a solid tandem of senior Max Browne of Newtown and junior Garrett McCollam of New Fairfield.

Key newcomers this season include junior Luca Moura who offers the ability to play offense and defense and sophomore forward Jack Meade — both of Newtown.

Schmidt and Albert are the captains and Ballard, Anderson, and McCollam are assistant captains.

Head Coach Paul Esposito returns with Primary Assistant Pat McLoughlin and Assistant Brendan McCollam. Jeff McCabe joins the staff and hockey enthusiast and Newtown Police Officer Matt Hayes will offer his guidance. Hayes participates in the Bender Classic, which has developed into an annual on-ice, between-periods, police department scrimmage to benefit Special Olympics at a select game each winter.

“The rest of the returning roster offers some nice complementary, gritty, and hardworking players all looking to make their mark on the season as well. The theme of the early season has been structure, hard work, and constant movement to keep the opponent at bay,” Coach McCollam said. “The expectation is that this team will come to compete hard shift by shift all season long and if so, will find itself in nice position in both league and state play this season.”

Tough opponents will include the BBDI (Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, and Immaculate), Masuk of Monroe, and New Milford along with the occasional surprise, McCollum said. The team will play in the new University of Connecticut arena when the Hawks visit E.O. Smith-Tolland on January 20 at 5:25 pm, and has a game at Esposito’s alma mater in upstate Massachusetts when the Hawks play the McCann Tech-Drury co-op February 3 at 4 pm.

Preseason offered some encouraging results. The team had its first scrimmage on December 5 and all players played as it occurred during the evaluation period. After falling behind 1-0 and 3-1 the Nighthawks battled back in the final frame to rally for a 3-3 tie. Goals were scored by Schmidt, Moura, and Jared Ku. Schmidt and Ku also assisted on a goal each and Andrew Sanchez had a helper. Goalies Max Brown (two goals against, 14 saves), Garrett McCollam (one goal against, nine saves), and Carter Bisson (no goals against, eight saves) all played well in the contest.

On December 9, the Hawks traveled to Shelton for an annual preseason jamboree and finished 1-0-2 in the three periods of play. Coach Esposito shortened the bench in this one with the first varsity game just around the corner. The team opened with a 1-1 tie vs Trumbull, then beat Staples of Westport 5-1, and rounded out the afternoon peppering Wilton but settling for a 0-0 tie. Again, all three goalies split time and periods with Browne stopping seven of seven, McCollam stopping four of five, and Bisson stopping seven of eight shots against.

Although good team defense was played throughout, a couple breakdowns led to both Browne and McCollam having to come up big stopping a breakaway each to preserve those ties. Getting on the scoreboard in the jamboree were Schmidt (two goals, one assist), Cilia (two goals), Anderson (one goal, one assist), and Quinn Harris (one goal). Albert, Ballard, Meade, and Atilla Balla all logged assists.

“A good effort was turned in by all and, although some corrections will continue to be imparted, the team is heading the right direction heading into regular season play. Everyone is very much looking forward to the season getting underway and is optimistic that hard work will equate to success this coming year. Being a tight-knit group with many players coming up and playing together one time or another at the youth level the coaches’ expectations are high. With six games on tap before the end of the month, the team will need to get off to a fast start and carry that momentum as they move forward,” Coach McCollam said.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.