If at first you don’t succeed — try again. The adage certainly applied for Newtown High School’s field hockey team in a 2-0 win at Southington in the qualifying round of the Class L state tournament on November 3.

Newtown, stymied in the first half despite an advantage in scoring opportunities, and thwarted on a golden chance less than two minutes into the second half, eventually broke the scoreless deadlock and, in doing so, moved on to the first round. Newtown, the No. 19 team in the bracket, will visit third-seeded New Milford at 2 pm on Wednesday, November 5.

Megan Kelleher whipped home the go-ahead goal just 3:55 into the second half, and Caroline Chocholak added an insurance tally with 12:43 remaining as Newtown earned an on-paper upset of the No. 14 Knights in their play-in battle. Chocholak’s goal came after she carried the ball deep into Southington’s end of the field and, after some initial resistance from the defense, managed to get a clean shot off to double the lead. Chocholak, earlier in the half, was stopped on a breakaway opportunity.

Newtown survived a late first-half flurry by the Knights and Newtown goaltender Casey Demers came up with a big stop midway through the first half to preserve what was a one-goal lead at the time.

Demers got plenty of help from her defenders as Kayla Disibio, Megan Goyda, Amanda Kahn, Brooke Hadgraft, and others broke up several rushes assembled by the Knights.

“After talking with the team and regrouping and restrategizing we were able to put two in,” said Newtown Coach Stephanie Paproski, adding that she emphasized the importance of more players pushing up the field in transition, communication, and dodging around the goaltender rather than simply unloading shots toward the goal.

“It feels so good,” Paproski added. “Last year we didn’t get past our qualifying round.”

Advancing through the first round this season looks like a tall order. Newtown lost to New Milford, a South-West Conference rival, during the regular season — but only by a goal, 2-1 back on September 26.

“I think if we play like today we have a good chance,” Paproski said.

New Milford, which earned the No. 2 seed in the SWC playoffs before winning the championship, certainly stands to be a big hurdle as Newtown tries to earn a spot in the state quarterfinals, but there’s plenty of optimism surrounding a team that won its final two regular-season clashes to qualify for postseason play.

“They’re tough. If we play well have a really good shot,” Chocholak said.