It was quite a season for Newtown High School’s boys’ soccer team. The Nighthawks won the South-West Conference’s Colonial Division, were the tournament’s top seed, and reached the SWC championship game. Newtown’s success was stopped in a 1-0 loss to No. 6 Pomperaug of Southbury in the SWC pinnacle game, at neutral site Brookfield High, on November 3.

Newtown goalkeeper Yarema Stasyshyn and the Nighthawk defense fended off the Panthers for a majority of the night but Nolan Keane deposited a low shot following a Stasyshyn save on a chance seconds earlier; the lone goal of the game came 2:27 into the second half.

The Nighthawks had their chances. In the opening minutes, a right side corner kick by Gjin Abazi set up John Moxham for a header near the far post, and Connor Muir crossed into the 18-yard box where Luke Kellerman and Adam Dissa had chances that were thwarted.

Solid defense by Moxham and Gabe Petertonjes broke up Pomperaug chances and the game remained scoreless through one half of play.

Newtown pressured early in the second half but after the Panthers’ goal the flow of the game began to go Pomperaug’s way. Newtown hung in there and tried to knot the score. The Hawks threatened with a long throw-in by Kyle Ruddy into traffic near the Pomperaug net a few minutes after the goal. A free kick by Connor Dullinger led to a corner kick just before the midpoint of the second half but the Panthers escaped.

Newtown generated a few late-game chances, including a pair of Abazi free kicks from 50 yards out. The Panthers fended off the Hawks to maintain the lead.

“We had our opportunities — we didn’t finish,” Newtown Coach Ryan Lyddy said.

Despite the outcome, the run to the SWC final was a notable achievement in itself.

“We got to the finals and it took all year to build this,” said Lyddy, whose team lost 15 players to graduation from a year ago.

The Nighthawks lost for only the second time this fall and just the sixth time in the last three years.

“For all these kids to have that under their belt — not too many programs can say that,” Newtown’s coach noted.

The Hawks looked to regroup in the Class LL State Tournament. NHS earned the No. 7 seed and a first round home game against Brien McMahon of Norwalk at Blue & Gold Stadium on November 7. McMahon prevailed 5-1.

It was 1-0 Senators at the break. Newtown nearly tied things early in the second half when Cal Lucas crossed from the right corner, but Muir’s header banged off the cross bar. Moments later, Stasyshyn made a diving save to keep it 1-0, but McMahon started to gain traction and capitalized with a goal less than eight minutes into the second half. Two more net-finders a little more than two minutes apart before the midpoint of the half pushed the lead to 4-0. McMahon added another before Johnny Celli broke up the shutout late in regulation.

A couple of bounces Newtown’s way — including that cross bar chance — and the face of the game could have changed, Lyddy pointed out. Once the Senators began to tack onto the lead, the wheels began to fall off, Lyddy added.

“I just feel for the seniors,” said Lyddy, whose final-year players helped set the tone for success in the program beginning with their commitment a few years ago.

Just like Newtown had to regroup following last year’s large graduating class, the Hawks will turn to some youth going forward after this year’s loss of seven seniors. Lyddy is optimistic about the future given the talent coming up from the junior varsity and freshmen ranks, especially given the vibe created by this year’s upperclassmen.

“It’s more of a program now than ever. It’s a nice program to be a part of,” Lyddy said.

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