Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team, coming off a season-ending 3-3 tie on the road with Bethel on October 22, will enter into the postseason following a long, nine-day layoff. And the Nighthawks are hopeful that the rest and wait will help and not hinder as the sixth-seeded Hawks visit No. 3 Weston in the South-West Conference tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, October 31, beginning at 2 pm.

“It could be a blessing, and it could be dangerous,” Newtown Coach Marc Kenney said of the hiatus in game action, noting that players battling injuries — including Makenna Cerney and Maddie Pirone — will have a chance to get healthy; but any team stands to loose it rhythm and become a bit complacent with such a long layoff.

The Nighthawks are not alone; this year’s schedule was set up this way, leaving all eight teams in the bracket to shake off a bit of rust as they challenge one another for conference bragging rights. This will be Newtown’s first appearance in the SWC dance after not qualifying a year ago, for the first time in program history.

“I know we’re going to get their best effort. We’ve just got to figure out a way to win,” said Kenney, whose team went 6-4-3 in conference play this fall. Weston, which Newtown defeated 1-0 in a road contest back on September 21, has an SWC record of 9-2-2.

Kenney knows none of the games will be easy. During the regular campaign, the Nighthawks played five conference games that were decided by just one goal, along with the trio of ties.

“It’s going to be hard, but I think it’s going to be hard for everybody — all eight teams,” Kenney said.

The Nighthawks had a propensity to score late to either pull out victories or salvage ties from start to finish this fall. The finale, at Bethel, was no different.

The girls built a 2-0 halftime lead, saw Bethel battle back to seize a 3-2 advantage, then scored late in regulation to salvage the tie. Emma Curtis, Sarah Houle, and Anna Biondi all scored. Biondi headed home the game-tying goal off a Houle corner kick with 9:28 remaining, less than a minute after Bethel logged the go-ahead tally.

“No different than I’ve seen from this group the entire year. They work so hard,” said Kenney, adding that he likes that his players have been selfless and bring their best effort every day.

“I think we have really good potential to do well,” said senior defender Marissa Thill. “Our conference is very good. I think we’re prepared pretty well to take on the teams we’re going to face.”

Newtown certainly is battle-tested in playoff-like, hard-fought, close matchups given that most of their wins or ties were earned with net-finders in the final ten minutes — in some instances in the waning seconds.

“We always find a way to get back in it at the end,” senior defender Alana Murray said.

The Nighthawks expect the postseason to be much like the regular slate.

“Usually they’re very, very close games, and I think that will help because we fight ’til the end,” Murray said.

Read more about the Nighthawks in the October 30 print edition of The Bee.