Among the handful of teams bunched together within a point of each other and vying for one of the top spots in the South-West Conference Tournament, the Newtown and Pomperaug of Southbury high school girls’ soccer teams squared off at Blue & Gold Stadium on October 25. The host Nighthawks handed the Panthers their first loss to a conference rival, 1-0, behind Bella Gerace’s first-half put-back goal. Gerace deposited a rebound, set up by Katie Rowan, and goalkeeper Ryann Heim-Sherwood made it stand up with six saves for a Senior Night victory.

“Huge win,” Newtown Coach Marc Kenney said. “One of the things about Senior Night that is great is we get to honor the seniors. However, it’s an emotional night.”

Kenney was pleased with how his team overcame the distractions to prevail.

Sure, the Nighthawks did not have any ties in conference play this fall after five of them in an abbreviated, 12-game slate a year ago, but things could not have been much closer in the standings with Newtown, Pomperaug, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Weston, and Brookfield, all jammed up at or near the top heading into the last games.

“Same old story — a lot of parity in the SWC this year,” said Kenney, whose team went on to clinch the third seed and earn a first-round playoff date with the winner of the Bethel-Immaculate of Danbury matchup on Wednesday.

Newtown’s coach is confident his team will at the very least make things interesting in the playoffs. The Nighthawks went 12-3-1 overall, and two of those losses were by 1-0 scores, to Weston and Notre Dame. Brookfield beat NHS 3-1 early on in the campaign. For what it’s worth, the Hawks beat both Bethel and Immaculate by 2-1 scores during the regular slate.

“Regardless of outcome, they’re going to battle and I’m proud of them for that,” he added.

Newtown is to begin the conference playoffs with quarterfinal-round action on Friday, October 29, at 5 pm. The semis are Tuesday, November 2, and the championship game is Thursday, November 4. The Nighthawks have reached conference championship games each of the past four years.

“I can’t wait,” Kenney said of the start of tournament.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.