By Kim J. Harmon

GUILFORD – The odds certainly seemed to be stacked against the Nighthawks as they made their way to Guilford last Saturday for a CIAC Division II state tournament game against the No. 3 Guilford Indians.

With the 14th seed, with the long ride up I-95, and with the memory of two poor games that finished up the regular season, the 6-9 ‘Hawks just didn’t seem to have any impetus at all for a state tournament battle.

Or so you would think.

After John Conlon scored with 2:39 left in the first period to put the ‘Hawks ahead, 1-0, they had plenty of impetus . . . but it was fleeting, as the Indians rallied to score five unanswered goals enroute to an 11-5 win.

Newtown fell to 6-10 on the season.

The ‘Hawks started off well and even though the offense missed on a couple of opportunities early, the defense was strong enough that the game remained scoreless until the 2:39 mark of the first period. Conlon started the sequence with a pass to Erik Martenson in the low post. Martenson dished the ball back to Conlon who shot overhand for the goal.

Newtown held on to the 1-0 lead until 1:09 was gone in the second period. The first Guilford goal started a string of five in a row that did not get snapped until Matt Saunders scored with 7:31 left in the third period.

The assist on that goal came from Casey Kirch, who dodged into the box and managed to hold on to the ball despite getting hammered by the Guilford defenders. Kirch passed off to Saunders, who took a long bounce shot to the cage for the goal.

As the ‘Hawks struggled to keep their footing on the Guilford field, the Indians three more times to take an 8-2 lead at the end of three periods.

Then Newtown made a little push. Bryan Hamilton, off a pass from Conlon, whipped a high shot just under the cross bar just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter to trim the Guilford lead to 8-3. Even though the Indians answered back about three minutes later, Conlon – scooping a rebound in front of the cage – came back with another goal with 6:39 left.

Hamilton added his second goal of the game a minute later, slipping around and under the Guilford defense for an open shot on the cage.

But that would be all that Newtown could score. Guilford came back with goals at the 2:37 and the 2:20 marks.

Conlon and Hamilton finished with two goals apiece, giving them 26 and 16 goals for the season, respectively. Hamilton also finished with a team-high 17 assists. Senior Sean Raby – featuring in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd section this week – was held scoreless in the final game and finished the season with 41 goals and 16 assists.