The Newtown High School boys’ soccer team defeated the host Stratford Red Devils 7-1 on September 24. The Nighthawks got a hat-trick from Jalen Minter and two goals from Jake Gonski as they rebounded from hard-fought defeats earlier in the week.

Newtown finished its game against visiting team Pomperaug of Southbury with a 2-1 loss at Blue & Gold Stadium on September 20. After a long back and forth battle between the teams, the first half ended with Newtown chasing Pomperaug’s 1-0 lead.

Pomperaug senior Andrew Doan scored an early goal for a 1-0, lead but Newtown seemed unfazed. The pressure that was then put on Newtown’s line of defense was handled well, with many clean clearances by defender and senior captain Duncan O’Leary and senior defender Bryce Benson, as well as goalie and senior captain Rick Irving making many good saves.

“We’re off to a little bit of a slow start, but I think tactically we’re in a good spot. I think it’s only going to get better from here. … It looked a lot better today than it has in the past,” Irving said.

Newtown kept Pomperaug on its toes in the second half, with lots of opportunities and shots taken by seniors Minter and Joe Premus. The teams had back and forth possession that eventually led to a second goal for Pomperaug with 15 minutes left in the second half by senior Jack O’Brien. Five minutes later, the Panthers were given a yellow card for a dangerous play.

Newtown came back with six minutes remaining in the game with a goal scored by junior midfielder Tanner Trede, who took the ball up the side of the field, going past Pomperaug’s defense and getting an open shot at the goal.

The Nighthawks switched up their formation of forwards, midfielders, and defenders during the game.

“We started the game off with a 3-4-3, and towards the end we ended up switching back to a 2-3-5. The formation is high risk, high reward, and if you play that type of formation, what tends to hurt us the most — which happened this game — was an unforced error turnover. This allows the other team to counterattack and score goals. But as you can see, when we start playing high pressure with a five-man line creating a little bit of chaos, it starts to create opportunities because the defensive formation of the other teams can’t really react to it,” Newtown Associate Coach Justin Stevens said.

“Looking forward, I think the toughest opponent is ourselves. I feel like every team is going to have their own weaknesses, so I’m not looking at the other team, I’m looking at ourselves because I know that we have the ability to beat anyone we play if we play the right way. Getting over ourselves and playing actual soccer will be our speed bump this year,” Irving said.

The Nighthawks fell 4-1 at Old Saybrook on September 21.

Stevens said Newtown started strong and scored the first goal within ten minutes of kickoff. “An individual effort by Trede saw him break down the left flank with speed before firing a half-volley into the far right corner of the goal. Unfortunately, back-to-back games for Newtown started to take its toll on the players as several key players for Newtown went down with injuries. Old Saybrook took advantage, applying the pressure, and scored two goals in quick succession to close out the first half,” Stevens said.

“The second half started the same way the first half ended, with Old Saybrook applying the pressure on our defense with long-balls over the top,” Stevens added. Two yellow cards for Newtown and a red card from goalkeeper Connor Mandarano for handling the ball outside the penalty box saw Newtown playing down a man for the remaining 15 minutes of the game, and Old Saybrook tacked on two goals to put the game out of reach.

In the win over the Red Devils, the Nighthawks jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead. Newtown improved to 2-3 and Stratford fell to 0-3.

Newtown was well-organized and showed good discipline for the first 35 minutes of the first half. It was important in this game for the team to work together and defend as “one.” Newtown’s team pressure forced several Stratford turnovers, allowing Newtown to capitalize on the counter attack.

“Jake Gonski was the engine in the midfield, breaking up plays and scored Newtown’s second goal of the half off a quick-taken free kick from 25-plus yards out that caught the Stratford team and defense off guard. His second goal of the match came off a corner kick taken by Tristan Andrews that Jake headed in from the center of the goal about seven yards out,” Stevens said.

Minter was assisted by Premus from a cross from the left when he tucked the ball inside the back post, and Minter was assisted by Bryce Benson on a long ball over the top. Adem Selmani was assisted by Justin Zemo to finish the first-half scoring.

Stratford’s high intensity to begin the second half led to a penalty kick goal, but the Nighthawks responded. Minter scored his third when Trede beat several players down the touchline, dribbled across the end line, and crossed to Minter at the back post for the goal. Zemo rounded out the scoring with an unassisted shot from 20 yards out that dipped just over the Stratford goalkeeper.

Irving finished with four saves.