By Kim J. Harmon

BETHEL – The Newtown High School girls’ soccer team didn’t expect the rest of the 2001 season to go as easily as it had in victories over Jonathan Law and Stratford.

Challenges – there would be challenges for a team that is almost shockingly young (just two seniors and only four juniors) and they would come in the guise of teams from Lauralton Hall, New Fairfield and Bethel.

After scoring 15 goals in their first two games, the Nighthawks quickly faced up to a meaty part of their schedule when Lauralton Hall came to Blue & Gold Stadium last week. And a thrilling, 3-2 victory there started the ‘Hawks off on a three-game winning streak for the week (a 1-0 win over New Fairfield and 2-1 win over Bethel figure into that) that sets them up with a 5-0-0 record.

While the ‘Hawks defeated New Fairfield in overtime and did hold a 2-0 advantage on Bethel before the Lady Wildcats made it more interesting, the victory over Lauralton Hall may have been the most telling one for these young players. Not only did the ‘Hawks get scored on for the first time, but they also had to rally from behind to win.

And they were behind right away. With 6:19 left in the first half, Hall broke open a tough, defensive battle with a goal off the foot of Chelsea Dunne. It was a high arcing shot just over the out-stretched hands of goaltender Allison Smith.

There was almost nothing she could do about it.

The half ended with Hall on top, but just 1:30 into the second half Chelsea Morin tied it up. Morin had been getting marked real closely for the entire game and was knocked down several times. But just 90 seconds into the second half, she was knocked down inside the box and was awarded a penalty kick.

She delivered for her eighth goal of the season.

Then 16 minutes later, Morin was back at it. With a pass from Caroline Kunkel, Morin got a rush up field, split two defenders, pulled up and blasted a shot off the hands of Hall goaltender Catherine McKelvey.

The ‘Hawks, with a 2-1 lead, really began dominating play. Kelley Haines and Allison Frobey were just brilliant on defense while Morgan Haines, Kim Helfer and Alex Helfer were doing a great job of controlling the ball in the middle of the field. Morin and freshman Mary Anders took their cracks on offense, too, and really challenged the Hall defense.

But they couldn’t break through again. Then, with 13:27 left to play, Lauralton Hall got a nice pass in behind the Newtown defense. Megan Cunningham gathered the ball in and beat Smith to tie the score, 2-2.

The goal seemed to pick Hall up and seemed to deflate Newtown just a little and the game turned into a good back-and-forth battle from then on. But with 10:22 left to play, the Nighthawks recaptured the lead.

A nice cross put the ball into the penalty box in front of the Hall goal. A quick, little skirmish followed as Hall attempted to clear but it was Frobey who got a foot on the ball and punched it clean out to the 25-yard mark. Kim Helfer settled the ball and then lifted a beautiful shot to the upper right corner of the net to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 3-2.

It was what Newtown needed to bolster its stamina for the rest of the game. The offense continued to put pressure on the net and the defensive maintain solid control of the ball.

It was a big win.

And the ‘Hawks followed it up with a truly, hard-fought, 1-0 win over New Fairfield last Saturday night. That one didn’t end until Carrie Lipnick punched a shot past Rebel goaltender Stephanie Doyle with one minute left in sudden death overtime.

Newtown outshot New Fairfield, 18-4.

With that win in the bank, the ‘Hawks traveled to Bethel (coach Rupert de los Reyes’ old stomping grounds) on Tuesday for an afternoon contest with the Lady Wildcats. First-half goals by Alex Helfer and Morgain Haines gave the ‘Hawks enough cushion enroute to a 2-1 win. Lipnick registered the assist on Haines’ goal.

Newtown outshot Bethel, 18-9, and Smith had to make eight saves on the afternoon.

The ‘Hawks held up their undefeated record on Thursday (after press time) as Joel Barlow came to town for a 7 pm game at Blue & Gold Stadium. Barlow suffered its first loss of the season, 2-1, to Weston on Tuesday.

The ‘Hawks will travel to Notre Dame on Friday and then travel to Immaculate on Tuesday before returning home on Thursday, October 11, for a 7 pm contest against Foran at Treadwell Park.