By Steve Bigham

N

ewtown High School boys’ soccer coach Brian Neumeyer is going on the attack this fall. He has changed around his game plan from the past two years and decided to go with a more offensive-minded approach.

But don’t misunderstand. He‘s not having any second thoughts about the conservative strategy that helped lead the Nighthawks to 28 wins over the past two years, a berth in the CIAC Class L state tournament and a reputation as a South-West Conference powerhouse.

That system worked just fine, but the players who executed it are gone. In all, 13 players graduated from last year’s 14-4-2 squad – with Bret McEvoy, Rich Engel, Tom Malloy, Brian Gossling, Jared Miller, TJ Wolferseder and Scott Walrath leading the list.

This year’s team lacks the experience and, so far, the ability to play the Brian Neumeyer brand of soccer.

“We’re going to do things a little bit differently this year,” Neumeyer said this week. “It’s a new strategy. The overall philosophy will be the same, but the way we approach it will be a little different. Instead of building from the back, we might go forward a little bit more.”

Newtown will still look to possess the ball, but using the help of a strong contingent of midfielders, the team will try to attack more directly at times. This should relieve some of the pressure on a young defense.

The good news is the scoring punch is there. Guys like Ryan Tracy, Brendan Cavanaugh, Colin Armstrong and Rob Weiss have all proven they can put it home.

“We’re going to try to force more goals this year. That’s what the makeup of the group is. We have a lot of attacking players,” Neumeyer said.

But success won’t come without certain players raising their games to new levels. Co-captains Andrew Smith and Weiss will be relied on to keep the squad afloat as the youngsters get their feet wet.

“We’re waiting for guys to understand that McEvoy, Engel, Cavanaugh, Gossling – those guys aren’t here anymore. I need guys to step up and understand that it’s their team. Once they realize that, that’s when we’ll take out next step. That hasn’t happened yet,” said Neumeyer.

Smith and Weiss (seniors), Cavanaugh and Armstrong (juniors) and Rouse and Tracy (sophomores) are the only six players to have ever started a varsity game at Newtown. Junior goaltender Matt Pachniuk saw some playing time as a freshman, but saw little action last year. Pachniuk has made huge strides in his game and is expected to make an impact early on.

Smith, a midfielder/forward, will likely see time this year at sweeper, replacing the talented McEvoy. His experience should help varsity newcomers Derek Miles, a sophomore, and junior twins Alan Popowski and Brian Popowski. Neumeyer plans to use a bit of a rotating formation so players may find themselves playing in different spots on the field throughout the game.

“All our midfielders are forwards that have been pushed back – Weiss, Cavanaugh, Mike Troy. He’s a sophomore who we’ll really need to step up for us this year.”

Ian Walker, a junior midfielder, is back after suffering a broken foot last year.

Rouse, who started as a freshman, will also play at the midfield. Tracy, a forward/midfielder, was called up to the varsity last season due to injuries and scored some big goals.

Neumeyer, who is being helped this year by longtime Newtown resident and soccer enthusiast Al Taubert, said he is only naming 12 players to the varsity roster to start the season. He plans to maintain a core group of junior varsity players who will all have opportunities to move up during the season. Leading a talented group of eight freshmen are Matt McFadden and Mike Bonsignore, while Dave Andras, Chris Malloy and Sean Wilson head up the sophomore class.

Freshman Andrew Fiscella will back up Pachniuk in goal.

As far as the rest of the league, Neumeyer admits Joel Barlow will likely walk to a championship which would be a repeat of last year. The rest of the league appears to be in a similar position to Newtown, having lost key players, although New Milford, Brookfield, and Kolbe-Cathedral appear to have caught up to teams like Masuk, Bethel and Newtown.

Can Newtown maintain its standing at the top of the SWC?

“I think that if we learn how to play this way – it will take time – we can be just as successful as the last two years. I don’t expect a drop-off and I won’t make any excuses for these guys,” Neumeyer said.

The Nighthawks open the season next Friday at home against Weston.

DATE   OPPONENT        TIME

Sept. 15  Weston                      6 pm

Sept. 19  at New Fairfield     3:30 pm

Sept. 21  Brookfield                  6 pm

Sept. 23  at Immaculate           11 am

Sept. 26  Stratford                    6 pm

Sept. 28  Joel Barlow                7 pm

Oct. 3     New Milford               6 pm

Oct. 6     at Notre Dame       3:45 pm

Oct. 10   at Bethel                    7 pm

Oct. 12   Bunnell                      6 pm

Oct. 14   Jonathan Law             6 pm

Oct. 17   at Foran                3:45 pm

Oct. 19   Masuk                       6 pm

Oct. 23   at Kolbe-Cathedral 3:45 pm

Oct. 25   Pomperaug                 6 pm