The Newtown High School girls’ soccer team followed up its first win of the season with a resounding 5-0 victory over Brookfield High School Bobcats at Blue & Gold Stadium on Saturday night, September 20.

The Nighthawks had started the season with a rough patch, tying their first two games and losing their third. However, the team seemed to find their rhythm at the end of last week getting the first win in a 2-0 victory over the host New Fairfield Rebels on September 18 and following it up with a convincing performance against Brookfield.

Coach Marc Kenney said he made some adjustments tactically which helped to turn the struggles around. However he said the biggest key was the team’s play.

“The key in both of these games was that we’re getting off to really good starts, right from the get-go we are playing hard,” Kenney said.

The Nighthawks put in an all-around team performance right from the start. The team kicked off the scoring two minutes into the game with a goal by forward Makenna Cerney, assisted by Madeline Sieber. Newtown crashed the net all night long on shots and set pieces and it paid off. Hayley Conrad scored off a rebound from one of Cerney’s shots that made it 2-0 early in the first half. Cerney scored again late in the first half with a nice shot that scooted off the diving Brookfield goalie’s hands. The Hawks dominated the possession throughout the half and continued to do so in the second half, using their passing to set up quality shots.

Early in the second half, captain Jess Keller fed Conrad for her second goal of the game to stretch the lead to four. Keller added a goal of her own with 15 minutes left in the game to cap the scoring. Newtown’s domination of possession, strong defense and goalie play, by senior Alyssa Ruefenacht, enabled the Hawks to keep the ball in the offensive half of the field for the majority of the game.

Coach Kenney was pleased with the team’s effort in the last two games and felt as though the team was starting to find its identity after struggling in the first few games. Kenney stressed that his team was very young this year and that the players are going to go through some growing pains. However, he is impressed with his team’s progress so far.

“The group is really committed to getting better and that is all I can ask for,” Kenney said.

The Nighthawks head to Brookfield on Friday, September 26, at 3:45 pm, for a rematch of Saturday night’s game. The team’s next home game at Blue & Gold Stadium is the next night, September 27, when Weston visits for a 5 pm start.