The New Year Started with a bang for the Newtown-New Fairfield (NNF) high school hockey team. The Nighthawks blanked South-West Conference foe and host Joel Barlow of Redding’s co-op 3-0 at Danbury Ice Arena on January 3.

The game was chippy from the start as JBWA (Joel Barlow, Weston, Abbott Tech) was physical in an effort to hinder the NNF style of play. The Hawks overcame their opponents to improve to 2-1 in league play and 6-1 this season.

NNF got on the scoreboard quickly as Patrick Moody was left unchecked in front and with a quick release sent one through the five-hole of the goalies’ pads. Ryan Anderson and Quinn Harris assisted by chasing down a JBWA defender in the corner of the offensive zone and digging the puck loose so Harris could feed the puck to Moody for the lead just :31 seconds into the contest.

The score stayed that way all the way until the middle of the second period with a penalty box parade and aggressive undisciplined play and calls the coaches questioned throughout. The NNF squad for the most part remained composed but after a third player was injured on a suspect open ice hit goaltender Garrett McCollam voiced his displeasure with the non-call as he skated to his fallen teammate to the left of the cage. Coach Paul Esposito also took exception to numerous missed calls and rough play, and both were subsequently penalized putting the NNF squad down two men and JBWA on a 5-on-3 power play.

This seemed to rally the troops and they were determined on the penalty kill with methodical saves by McCollam and solid clears and patience by the defense. The game remained 1-0 heading to the third. The final stanza saw a thrilling conclusion as both teams applied offensive pressure but both goaltenders remained steadfast turning back decent opportunities. In the closing minutes, Alex Schmidt picked up a nice headman pass from John Kenny in the neutral zone and skated wide down the right side and crossed the JBWA blueline close to the wall with speed and a trailing defender. Schmidt got beneath the defenseman cutting hard from a goal line angle and found the net on the short side as the goalie began to move off his post. This insurance goal doubled the lead with under four minutes to play.

Having lost several players to injury due to the previously mentioned style of play throughout the Hawks also got tabbed with yet another dubious call against and had to kill off two minutes of the final 3:07 with a couple of dandy saves turned in by a confident McCollam, Nighthawk coaches noted. In the end it was Schmidt once again sealing the deal with an empty net goal from high on the angle outside the faceoff dot with a mere 45 seconds remaining in the contest.

The game ended with one last penalty call on JBWA and a few banged up NNF players but a happy group nonetheless as they enter 2024. McCollam was honored by his teammates as player of the game and Coach Espo was honored by the team with a game puck for his unwavering commitment during difficult times; the head coach’s mother, Marian Esposito, passed away on December 31. A matchup with Fox Lane in Brewster, N.Y., got postponed due to snow on January 6.

The JV Hawks hit the ice for their second contest of the winter season and ended up knotted 1-1 in an entertaining game versus JBWA. Both squads fielded short benches giving the JV players lots of ice time and opportunity. The game was scoreless through two periods of play with JBWA holding a 19-15 shot advantage. Both goaltenders were tested but responded with solid saves to keep the game scoreless.

The tie was finally broken in the third period when Jackson Molison of NNF entered the zone with speed and let a low snapshot go from the angle. Atilla Balla was there driving the middle of the ice to pick up and deposit the rebound for the first tally of the game. In the waning minutes JBWA got the equalizer when NNF was unable to jump on a loose puck in front of the net. The resulting goalmouth scramble saw the puck end up in the back of the net, so the boys settled for the tie. Carter Bisson manned the net for NNF and made 24 saves, including a couple beauties in the middle frame. Cameron Longhi also turned in a solid performance and made plays throughout.