Offensive Outburst Not Enough For Nighthawk Icemen In Opener

By Andy Hutchison

SHELTON — Newtown High School’s hockey team piled up five goals in the first two periods, but it wasn’t enough in a tough-to-swallow, season-opening loss to the Staples-Weston-Shelton team at The Rinks At Shelton on December 15.

Newtown fell 8-5 in this penalty-filled contest.

Newtown and its counterparts combined for 29 penalties, including some five-minute majors as tempers got the best of members of both sides on occasion.

“The kids played with a lot of passion but, at the same time, were not composed. We had a great advantage. They lost one of their best players in the third period and we didn’t really seize the opportunity,” Newtown Coach Paul Esposito said.

Esposito was referring to standout Staples centerman Kyle Wehmhoff’s game misconduct penalty and subsequent five-minute NHS power play, during which Newtown failed to score.

The Nighthawks trailed 6-5 at the time; they went on the score-at-will power play but couldn’t deadlock the game. Wehmhoff had scored three goals in the first two periods to help offset a potent Newtown High scoring attack.

The Nighthawks stuck first, just 57 seconds into the season, when Notre Dame-Fairfield transfer Christian Blais scored in his debut.

The Staples-led team, which includes one Weston player and several from Shelton High, took a 4-2 first period lead and appeared poised to carry that two-goal cushion into the second period. Newtown’s Ted Benoit lit the lamp with just two seconds left in the high-scoring opening stanza.

 The teams traded second period goals, with Newtown’s Hunter Dolyak and Blais each drawing their team back to within a goal, and Newtown trailed just 6-5 going into the third. Blais finished a perfectly-executed two-on-one rush assisted by Evan Isaacs and Dolyak.

Neither team scored again until, with 4:39 remaining, Staples player Forrest Savage got behind the NHS defense and scored an insurance marker. Everyone on Newtown’s bench, along with the NHS fans in the bleachers, argued that Savage was offside. It marked the second time, Esposito believed, that his team was scored upon by a questionable noncall on an offside play during the game. Newtown was assessed a bench minor penalty for disputing the call.

“We definitely fought through the game. We faced some unfortunate occurrences on two of the goals, which we’re not too happy about,” Esposito said.

The Nighthawks pulled goaltender Michael Allwein for an extra attacker to no avail and the opposition sealed the win with an empty-netter.

Allwein made 42 saves, and Alex Kelly scored Newtown’s other goal, but it was just not enough.

Both teams took far too many penalties, and it proved to be more costly for the Nighthawks in the end.

“Everybody was very passionate tonight. Some of us lost our heads a little bit and it cost us the game,” Esposito said.

The play featured too many high hits, Esposito said, which resulted in one of his players receiving a concussion.

“That was probably one of the ugliest games I’ve been a part of,” Staples Coach Ralph Unker said.

Still, there were some positives to be taken from this game — even for Newtown. “Overall, for a first game, the kids really came out and fought,” said Esposito, adding that the Hawks take pride in competing as a one-school team against teams that draw from two or more schools.

The Nighthawks, following a weeklong break from games, were scheduled to take on the Watertown-Pomperaug co-op on December 23 (after The Bee went to press). NHS will visit Norwalk-McMahon on December 28.