It’s still early in the season, but Newtown High School’s somewhat new-look girls’ lacrosse team is beginning to resemble the same old dominant squad it has been for several years.

The ten-time South-West Conference champions, revamped with a new coach and several new faces following the graduation of a dozen players, won its second straight game, doubling up visiting Masuk of Monroe 16-8 on April 21. The game was played a day after it was originally scheduled to take place, because of rain. Newtown carried a 3-2 overall record into a visit to Hall of West Hartford on April 23. An improving Masuk squad fell to 2-3 overall.

Julia Shugrue led the way with five goals and an assist, and Brianna Sclafani added four goals and an assist for the Nighthawks. Nevan Gattey scooped a team-best four ground balls. Goaltender Lizzy Hodge made six saves.

The Nighthawks were sharp on offense, moving the ball well to create scoring chances — and capitalizing to the tune of their highest-scoring effort of the young campaign.

“We were really focused on attack — spreading out and setting the pace for the game, and making smart decisions,” Newtown Coach Amanda Mastera said.

A big factor in the win for Newtown was also its possession, resulting from strong play in the draw circle. Newtown’s Brittany Meisenheimer and Julia Wiberg combined to win 15 draws.

“The draw controls were key. If you control the draws, you control the game,” Mastera points out.

That said, the coach notes that there is still some room for improvement in the circle. Mastera would like to see cleaner wins off the draws as the season unfolds.

She’s been pleased with the progress of the squad since a season-opening 11-10 overtime setback at Brookfield, the team Newtown defeated in last year’s title game.

“It’s pretty evident at this point that they’re getting better every single game,” Mastera said. “We’re on our way.”

The coach would like to see her Hawks improve its transition game, but she’s mostly pleased with the way things are going thus far.

Mastera, whose team toppled Bunnell of Stratford 15-5 on April 14, has been able to take advantage of lopsided wins by getting up-and-coming players some varsity game experience.

“I’m going to see these kids for several years,” Mastera said of the importance of easing some of the freshmen into varsity action. The coach adds that the younger players add depth to the lineup so early-season exposure to game play could pay dividends throughout this season.

The Hawks are hoping to keep getting better to get back to the top of the SWC and make some noise in the state playoffs as well.

“I think we can go really far this year,” captain Haley Trudell said. “We’ve really gotten to mesh well together.”

Newtown’s next home game is scheduled to take place on April 28 when Weston visits for a 7 pm start.