Thunder Wins Soccer League Championship

For the second time in three seasons, the U14 Newtown Thunder girls’ soccer team captured the CJSA Southwest District B Division title with a 2-0 victory over previously undefeated Westport.

The championship tourney weekend began on Saturday, November 10, with the second-seeded Thunder facing third seed Stamford. Trailing 1-0, Newtown evened the score midway through the second half when defensive standout Olivia Caplan scored on a direct kick just outside the box. Despite several aggressive rushes by Ali Manfredi and Hailey Conrad that were set up by the pinpoint passing of Kendra Dunnigan, Mia Katsuleres, and Mallory Lobuglio, the game remained tied after two overtime periods. Newtown prevailed in the match 2-1 as the team prevailed on penalty kicks by a 3-0 score.  Meghan Doyle was flawless in goal, turning away all three shots she faced. Scoring for Newtown were Emily Neave, Stef Carr, and Conrad with the clincher.

In the final on Sunday, Newtown faced top-seeded 8-0 Westport, a team that had allowed only three goals all season. For most of the first half, the physical Westport team kept the ball in the Newtown half. The tireless play of defenders Katie Elkins and Lauren King helped goalie Doyle keep Westport off the scoreboard. In the second half, the Thunder found its stride and started to force the action due to the inspired midfield play of Taylor Pare, Julia Sughrue, and Jess Maturo. After narrowly missing a goal on a 25 yard direct kick and a penalty shot that glanced off the post, Newtown broke through at the 60 minute mark when a Doyle (now out of goal) pass enabled Conrad to out race the defense down field and beat the goalie on the far side. Defenders Claire Beiter and Caplan, and goalie Carr would not yield to the subsequent Westport assault. At the 75-minute mark,  Newtown was able to get the back-breaker when Neave put a corner on goal, and Maturo controlled the pass and fired a low bullet that found the net just inside the near post. Newtown finished the season with a 7-1-1 league record and an overall record of 12-3-1. Newtown’s 31 league goals were nearly double the total of the next highest team. The team was coached by Craig Hollis and Steve Carr. Tim Doyle was the team dad.