BOYS LACROSSE

East Lyme 7, Newtown 4

Newtown 6, Masuk 4

Two good games and one win – it was a pretty good week for the Newtown High School boys’ lacrosse team.

The Nighthawks snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday afternoon with a 6-4 win over South-West Conference rival Masuk, but it was the fourth loss in that losing streak which might have helped the locals turn a corner.

After losing three straight games by a combined total of 28 goals – including a 15-2 shellacking at the hands of Joel Barlow – the ‘Hawks needed a solid effort and got it against non-league rival East Lyme last Saturday under rainy skies at Treadwell Park.

“Even though we lost,” said head coach Brian Micena, “it was one of the best games we have played in recent memory. A few pipes and missed opportunities and we could have controlled the game the whole night.”

East Lyme took a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period and still clung to a one-goal lead at the end of the half as both teams notched a pair of tallies in the second period. East Lyme, though, extended its lead with three unanswered goals in the third and was able to hold off a late rally by the ‘Hawks to record to 7-4 win.

Collin Babbage scored a goal and assisted on two others while Will Mahony, Travis Speer and Zack D’Agostino scored one goal apiece. Brendan Martin notched a pair of assists. Goaltender Drew Harmata recorded 14 saves on 32 shots.

The locals snapped the streak on Tuesday even though Masuk launched the first salvo just seconds into the game. The ‘Hawks responded by scoring three times in the first period and once more in the second to take a 4-1 lead into the half.

Both teams were scoreless in the third and the Panthers scored first in the fourth to inch within two goals, but the ‘Hawks scored twice more and held off their SWC rivals. Grant Speer, D’Agostino and Travis Speer each had a goal and an assist as Kevin Regan, Mahony and Brian Reszoly all recorded goals and Martin notched an assist.

Masuk levied a number of shots, but most were off target and Harmata needed to make just 11 saves to record the win

The ‘Hawks were at Bethel on Thursday and will be at Amity Regional on Saturday before concluding their three-game road trip next Thursday at New Milford. The locals will finally return to their home field on May 6 to host Conard of West Hartford.

Newtown                              0         2          0            2            - 4

East Lyme                              1         2          3            1            - 7

GOALS: Newtown – Collin Babbage, Will Mahony, Travis Speer, Zack D’Agostino; East Lyme – R. Doherty 2, K. Raymond, J. Elia, A. Rand, B. Sweeney, J. Marks, W. Berry. ASSISTS: Newtown – Babbage 2, Brendan Martin 2; East Lyme – J. Elia 2, K. Raymond, A. Rand, R. Doherty, B. Sweeney. SHOTS: Newtown – 25; East Lyme – 32. SAVES: Newtown – Drew Harmata 14; East Lyme – C. VanCura 13.

Newtown                              3         1          0            2            - 6

Masuk                                    1         0          0            3            - 4

GOALS: Newtown – Grant Speer, Zach D’Agostino, Kevin Regan, Travis Speer, Will Mahony, Brian Reszoly; Masuk – C. Buzi, D. Flynn, A. Seversen, C. Hawley. ASSISTS: Newtown – Grant Speer, Brendan Martin, Zach D’Agostino, Travis Speer. SAVES: Newtown – Drew Harmata 11; Masuk – S. Angelovic 8.

BASEBALL

Newtown 12, Joel Barlow 2

Newtown 14, New Fairfield 6

Accepted wisdom says, don’t wake a sleeping giant.

Twice now, the Newtown High School baseball team has fallen into a modest to moderate hole against a South-West Conference opponent and all the local nine did was, well, get all offensive on that luckless opponent.

The latest instance was Tuesday afternoon when New Fairfield grabbed a 5-0 lead in the top of the third against the ‘Hawks and junior starter Dan Murdoch. But the locals – who were a little bit sloppy at the start of the contest with a misplayed flyball and a throwing error – responded by scoring eight runs in the bottom of the frame and then four more in the bottom of the fourth on their way to a 14-6 win.

Coupled with a 12-2 win over Joel Barlow last week, the ‘Hawks remained undefeated at 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the SWC.

Centerfielder Brian Shimko keyed the huge third-inning rally with a three-run cannon shot over the fence.

The ‘Hawks collected 10 hits off New Fairfield pitchers Tom Fabiani, Adam Benzing and Greg Kellogg and two of those were doubles by Alex Magoulas and Peter Oggeri. Only Joe DeVellis had more than one hit for the locals. Shimko drove in three runs while Alex Dolan, Oggeri and Mike Tibbetts drove in two runs apiece. DeVellis and Tony Gallucci also drove in runs.

Murdoch weathered the early storm and picked up the win with sixth- and seventh-inning relief help from Steve Marks. The two hurlers scattered eight hits on the afternoon, walking just one while striking out four.

Last week, it was the ‘Hawks jumping out to an early lead – a 10-0 lead on Joel Barlow after just two innings. The locals banged out 11 hits with DeVellis clubbing a triple. McGrath, Vichiola, Oggeri and Dolan drove in two runs apiece while Tibbetts and Marks drove in one run each.

McGrath pitched five innings of two-run ball, striking out six, to pick up the win.

The ‘Hawks were at Fabbri Field in Fairfield on Thursday to battle Notre Dame and will be at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport on Friday to take on Staples of Westport (first pitch is at 7:15 pm). After a rematch with New Fairfield on Saturday, the ‘Hawks will return home on Monday to host Bethel.

Newtown                               370            200               0              - 12

Barlow                                    010            010               0                - 2

BATTERIES: Newtown – Ryan McGrath, Dan Murdoch (6) and Pete Oggeri, Ryan Clark (5); Joel Barlow – Jake Raiff, Seth Rosenberg (2), Zach Daidone (3) and Aaron Kaufman, Greg Colby (3). WP: McGrath (1-0). LP: Raiff (0-1). SO: McGrath 6, Murdoch 3, Daidone 3, Raiff, Rosenberg. BB: Reiff 5, McGrath 3, Daidone 3, Rosenberg. 3B: Joe Devellis (N). HR: Matt Lisi (B). RBI: Newtown – McGrath 2, Steve Vichiola 2, Oggeri 2, Alex Dolan 2, Mike Tibbetts, Steve Marks. Joel Barlow – Lisi.

New Fairfield                         104            100               0                - 6

Newtown                               008            402               x              - 14

BATTERIES: New Fairfield – Tom Fabiani, Adam Benzing (4), Greg Kellogg (5) and Charlie Szold; Newtown – Dan Murdoch, Steve Marks (6) and Pete Oggeri. WP: Dan Murdoch (2-0). LP: Fabiani. SO: Kellogg 4, Fabiani 3, Murdoch 3, Marks. BB: Fabiani 4, Benzing 2, Kellogg 2; Murdoch. 2B: Peck (NF) 2, Fabiani (NF), Alex Magoulas (N), Oggeri (N). HR: Brian Shimko (N). RBI: New Fairfield – Peck 4, Fabiani, Szold; Newtown – Shimko 3, Alex Dolan 2, Oggeri 2, Mike Tibbetts 2, Joe Devellis, Tony Gallucci.

SOFTBALL

Newtown 8, Joel Barlow 0

Newtown 11, New Fairfield 2

Brookfield 6, Newtown 0

With four wins in its previous five games, the Newtown High School softball team was on a heck of a roll.

But arch-rival Brookfield – which fell to Newtown last year in the South-West Conference quarterfinals – put a stop to that on Tuesday with a 6-0 win.

After dropping two of their first three games, the Lady Nighthawks posted wins over Bunnell, Weston, Joel Barlow and New Fairfield and had a non-conference loss to Trumbull sandwiched in between those four victories.

Everything seemed to be working – the offense (7.2 runs per game), the defense (just four errors in four games) and the pitching (0.81 earned run average through the first eight games). But Brookfield tossed a bit of a monkey wrench into all of that.

The Lady Bobcats collected seven hits – including a long home run by Melissa Coladarci and scored five runs in the first two innings off Legros enroute to a 6-0 win. The Lady Nighthawks also committed three errors and, at the plate, managed just four hits off Ashley Castellano.

Things went a lot better last week in an 8-0 win over Joel Barlow and 11-2 win over New Fairfield.

At Barlow, Legros fired a three-hitter while walking three and striking out 15. The ‘Hawks banged out 11 hits as Nora Lynn Shimko and Kelley Tenney doubled and Katie Schmidt, Ashley Ferris and Jenna Van Waalwijk all tripled.

Against New Fairfield, Stacy Broughton fired a one-hitter, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. Broughton walked six, struck out four, and improved to 3-0 while lowering her earned run average to a miniscule 0.58 in four appearances.

The locals snapped a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the third with four runs and then added four more in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Sam Ciaccia was 3-for-4 with a triple while Van Waalwijk was 2-for-3. Shimko and Jax Van Waalwijk clubbed triples to help fuel the Newtown offense.

Newtown fell to 5-4 overall, 3-0 in the South-West Conference while Brookfield improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the SWC.

The ‘Hawks will be in Fairfield on Friday to take on Notre Dame and will return home on Monday to host Bethel before traveling to Danbury on Wednesday to take on Immaculate.

Newtown      160     010     0      - 8

Joel Barlow    000     000     0      - 0

BATTERIES: Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Ferris; Joel Barlow – Letkowski, Torres and Stevens. WP: Legros (2-3). LP: Letkowski. SO: Legros 15, Torres 6, Letkowski. BB: Torres 4, Legros 3, Letkowski. 2B: Nora Lynn Shimko (N), Kelly Tenney (N). 3B: Katie Schmidt (N), Ferris (N), Jenna Van Waalwijk (N), Stevens (JB).

New Fairfield 000     000     2      - 2

Newtown      004     430     x    - 11

BATTERIES: New Fairfield – Crea and Brady;. Newtown – Stacy Broughton and Ashley Ferris. WP: Broughton (3-0). LP: Crea. SO: Broughton 4, Crea. BB: Broughton 6, Crea 3. 3B: Sam Ciaccia (N), Nora Lynn Shimko (N), Jax Van Waalwijk (N).

Newtown      000     000     0      - 0

Brookfield      230     001     x      - 6

BATTERIES: Newtown – Jenna Legros and Ashley Ferris; Brookfield – Ashley Castellano and Caitlin Smith. WP: Castellano (5-1). LP: Legros (2-4). SO: Legros 7, Castellano 2. BB: Legros 2. 2B: Taylor Shockley (B), Ferris (N), Smith (B). HR: Melissa Coladarci (B).

GIRLS LACROSSE

Newtown 16, Masuk 7

Co-captain Karli Beitel expressed some concern last week that the 14-6 win the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse team posted against Masuk last April 15 could be misleading because neither team was all full strength because of spring break.

Well, with school back in session this week Newtown and Masuk rekindled their rivalry in Monroe and the Lady Nighthawks re-asserted themselves as the favorites in the South-West Conference with a convincing 16-7 win.

Betsy Vendel scored four goals and assisted on two others as the locals improved to 7-0 overall.

It was a fairly close battle through the first half and on into the second even though the ‘Hawks staked themselves to a 6-2 lead on goals by Beitel, Vendel, Courtney Gleason, Moira Collier, Jen Greenwood and Lauren Ciccomascolo.

Early in the second half, Kim Solheim notched a goal and became the seventh different Newtown player to tally in the game. But shortly after – just a couple of minutes into the half – Masuk scored to pull within four goals.

Then the rains came.

But while the short, heavy downpour chased fans out of the stands and non-essential personnel off the sidelines to the relative dryness of the patio outside the Masuk locker rooms, it seemed to give the ‘Hawks a solid offensive boost.

The locals scored seven of the next nine goals and by the time the rains faded away to an annoying drizzle (before ending altogether) the ‘Hawks had a 14-5 lead. Vendel finished the proceedings off with a couple of nifty goals, first going low with her stick with a nice adjustment and then following up with a backhanded reverse.

Rachel Maley finished with two goals and three assists while Beitel finished with a goal and three assists. Gleason and Solheim both scored two goals while Katie Sudby, Ciccomascolo and Collier finished with one goal apiece.

Goaltender Kerrie Canavan made five saves to record the win.

The ‘Hawks hosted Bethel on Thursday and will be in Branford on Saturday for a 10 am game at the James L. MacVeigh Athletic Complex. The locals will return home next Tuesday and Thursday to host Lauralton Hall and New Milford on the Blue & Gold Stadium field.

Newtown            6       10      - 16

Masuk                  2         5        - 7

GOALS: Newtown – Betsy Vendel 4, Courtney Gleason 2, Rachel Maley 2, Kim Solheim 2, Jen Greenwood 2, Karli Beitel, Katie Sudby, Moira Collier, Lauren Ciccomascolo; Masuk – Carin Czerniawski 4, Kelly DelVecchio 2, Maggie White. ASSISTS: Newtown – Karli Beitel 3, Rachel Maley 3, Betsy Vendel 2, Katie Sudby. SAVES: Newtown – Kerrie Canavan 5; Masuk – Lauren Johnson 11.

GOLF

Newtown 188, Bunnell 202

It had been almost two full weeks since the last time the Newtown High School golf team stepped onto a golf course – thanks in large part to the Candlewood Valley Country Club in New Milford being virtually underwater this week – and while the Nighthawks weren’t sharp, they were sharp enough to record the win.

With Pat Daly carding a 9-over 45 at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford, the locals defeated Bunnell, 188-202, to improve to 3-2 overall. Steve Oberstadt and J.P. McDade both recorded rounds of 11-over 47 while Matt Taylor came in at 13-over 49.

James McIntosh of Bunnell was the medallist at 7-over 43.

The ‘Hawks hosted Notre Dame on Thursday at the Newtown County Club and will return to NCC next Tuesday to host Bunnell before traveling to Aspetuck Valley Country Club next Thursday to battle Weston.

Newtown 188, Bunnell 202

INDIVIDUALS: Newtown – Pat Daly 45, Steven Oberstadt 47, JP McDade 47, Matt Taylor 49; Bunnell – James McIntosh 43, Mike Gallo 50, Neal Karker 50, Andy Komoroski 59. COURSE: Oronoque Country Club. MEDALLIST: McIntosh (B) 43.

BOYS TENNIS

Joel Barlow 6, Newtown 1

After a spring break hiatus of almost 14 days, a match against powerful Joel Barlow seems a trifle unfair.

But while the Newtown High School tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to the Falcons, head coach Marty Margulies was encouraged by some of the things he saw on the NHS courts on a blustery Tuesday afternoon.

“Thanks to Mario Roehrs,” he said, “we took a match from Barlow for the first time in several years and we were competitive in three others, which means we have a decent chance when we face Barlow in a league match later in the season.”

Chris Meier gave Luke Sproviero a decent run at No. 2 singles before falling 6-3, 6-3 while Max Margulies battled Morgan Pinter at No. 3 singles before falling 6-3, 6-3. And the No. 2 doubles tandem of Adam Wenick and Evan Batzer extended Zack Rosenfeld and Charles Lillicraf to a third-set tiebreak before finally falling 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

The ‘Hawks are 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the South-West Conference.

“Our two freshman doubles players were especially impressive,” said coach Margulies. “They proved they can play against anyone in the conference (their opponents had extended perennial champ Weston earlier in the season) and with a little more experience could easily reverse the result the next time the two teams meet.”

The ‘Hawks hosted Masuk on Wednesday and were in New Milford on Thursday. On Saturday, the locals will be at Glenwood Park in Fairfield to take on Notre Dame before returning home on Monday to host arch-rival Brookfield.

Joel Barlow 6, Newtown 1

SINGLES – Charles Feldman (B) def Drew Adamek 6-0, 6-1; Luke Sproviero (B) def Chris Meier 6-3, 6-3; Morgan Pinter (B) def Max Margulies 6-3, 6-3; Mario Roehrs (N) def Brian Kriedberg 6-0, 6-2. DOUBLES – Russell Frost/Dan Klufas (B) def Mike Coster/Jim Wilkins 6-1, 6-0; Zack Rosenfeld/Charles Lillicraf (B) def Adam Wenick/Evan Batzer 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); Patrick Woan/John Montgomery (B) def. Ben Wicki/Adam Feldman 6-2, 6-1.

GIRLS TENNIS

Newtown 7, Notre Dame 0

The two-week spring break layoff did little to slow down the Newtown High School girls’ tennis team, which improved to 5-0 with a 7-0 whitewashing of Notre Dame on Tuesday at Treadwell Park.

Since defeating Brookfield, 6-1, on opening day on April 5, the Lady Nighthawks have not lost a single individual match while sweeping Bethel (twice), Bunnell and Notre Dame. On Tuesday, the locals were scarcely challenged as they lost just nine games.

Lauren Nemeth, Sarah Salbu, Kristene Salbu and Ashley Gabor recorded the singles wins while the tandems of Jill Tanner/Emily Fields, Katie Serock/Jenna Moser and Maxx Zimmer/Veronica Parsloe recorded the doubles wins.

The locals traveled to Wolfe Park in Monroe on Wednesday to take on Masuk and hosted New Milford on Thursday. They will visit Brookfield next Monday before returning home to host Immaculate and New Fairfield next Wednesday and Thursday.

Newtown 7, Notre Dame 0

SINGLES – Lauren Nemeth (N) def Jessica Ramos 6-0, 6-1; Sarah Salbu def Katie Makara 6-2, 6-1; Kristene Salbu def Tara Cancellier 6-1, 6-1; Ashley Gabor def Ashley Jones 6-0, 6-0. DOUBLES – Jill Tanner/Emily Fields def J. Chang/J. Hensey 6-0, 6-1; Katie Serock/Jenna Moser def S. Morall/A.Butler 6-1, 6-1; Maxx Zimmer/Veronica Parsloe def K. Garrett/L.Tvarolzk 6-0, forfeit second set.

BOYS TRACK

Newtown 119, Immaculate 20

Brookfield 77, Newtown 73.5

The Newtown High School boys’ track and field team found out what it was like to come out on the high side of a very close score in their season-opening win over Bethel.

Now they know what it’s like to come out on the low side.

The Nighthawks dropped a 77-73.5 decision to Brookfield on Tuesday afternoon while pounding Immaculate, 119-20, to move to 3-2 for the season.

Sophomore Jamie Goodwick had one of the best days for the ‘Hawks, grabbing a first-place finish in the triple jump despite having never before performed it in a competitive meet.

With his performance in the triple jump, pole vault and 4x100 relay, Goodwick accounted for 26.5 points on the afternoon.

The ‘Hawks will take on Masuk, New Fairfield and Notre Dame next week in Monroe.