Coming off a season of change and rebuilding, Newtown High School's girls' lacrosse team has high hopes for winning ways this campaign.

Newtown, which had won ten straight South-West Conference championships, had a new-look team following graduation of ten players and departure of its longtime coach, Maura Fletcher. Coming off a 5-11 season, the Nighthawks are looking forward to a possible return not only to winning ways, but also being back in the hunt for prominence in the SWC.

"I expect us to have a winning season and I think we're going to have a huge impact in the SWC playoffs," said Newtown Coach Amanda Mastera, adding that her goals for the season are for the squad to play as team and win the conference championship. "I'm extremely excited - we have a strong team this year. We have a young team, which is a good thing. We have a lot of depth this year."

The Nighthawks, a year ago, lost a trio of games by just one goal, and another by two tallies, so they weren't far off from a winning record a year ago as it is.

Newtown lost six players to graduation last spring, but Mastera expects this to be strong season given the talent she has back on the field.

Captains who led the way are midfield/attack player Julia Sughrue, attack player Brianna Scalfani, and defender Brittany Meisenheimer. Sughrue was a second team All State honoree last year.

"I think we're all really excited for this season," Sclafani said.

"Everybody's been working really hard so I think we're going to do good things," Meisenheimer added.

Defense is Newtown's biggest strength, the coach says.

"Our defense is extremely strong," said Mastera, adding, "we are also blessed with three very strong goalies."

Caroline Caporale, Lexy Leidlein, and Tess Davenport are vying for time stopping shots between the pipes.

"We pride ourselves on fantastic communication, overall game sense, sliding for teammates, and head on a swivel," the coach adds. "Though our offense is young, we are extremely fast and conditioned. Our midfielders averaged a 6:25 timed mile during tryouts."

Ball control will be key to the team's success - both in terms of possessions and getting possession.

"I expect and hope to see improvement on settled ball movement and shot placement. I'd also like to see us improve on dominating off the draw. Teams that win the draw, win the game," Mastera points out.

"I'm extremely excited about this season. My girls have trained hard in the offseason and that became evident during this weekend's Play Day [Jamboree] in Danbury. The team chemistry and heart is there," Mastera said as the preseason unfolded. "We just need to focus on getting work done during the week, in preparation for our scrimmage on Thursday against Daniel Hand."

Following that March 31 scrimmage the regular season begins.

Out-of-conference foe Trumbull High visits Blue & Gold Stadium on Saturday, April 2, beginning at 1 pm. Brookfield visits on Tuesday, April 5, starting at 3:45 pm as the Hawks begin the slate with five consecutive home games.

Tough teams on the schedule, Mastera believes, will be SWC foes Brookfield and Weston, along with nonconference lineups from Staples of Westport and Simsbury.

"I think we're going to really improve - we're going to do well," Sughrue said.

"I am extremely proud of my team and the work they have put in during the offseason. This year you will see fire and heart during every single one of our games," Mastera adds.