By Andy Hutchison

DANBURY — The shots kept coming — 19 in the first period, 15 more in the second. … By the end of the game, Newtown High School goaltender Mitch Bloomberg had faced 50.

The junior netminder did all he could to keep his hockey team in the game but, in the end, visiting St Joseph skated away with a 5-2 win at Danbury Ice Arena on Monday afternoon.

In a battle of two struggling teams, the Nighthawks ran out of gas after fighting back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score in the third period. St Joseph improved to 2-9-1 and Newtown dropped to 2-7. Both records are somewhat deceptive given that both teams have endured their share of close defeats. St Joseph lost its first four games each by a goal and Newtown has been in contention in most games this season despite it being a transitional year.

“We’ve had a bumpy start. We’re incorporating in a lot of guys who didn’t get a lot of ice time last year,” Newtown Coach Paul Esposito said.

In addition, Esposito (who first coached the Nighthawks from 2001 to 2004) is new behind the bench for the current group of Nighthawks. He has implemented some new schemes for the players to learn and the adjustment is taking time. The coach is optimistic that the Hawks can get a few more wins under their belts and contend for the Division III State Tournament.

The Nighthawks have lost some close games, including a couple of 2-1 setbacks (to New Fairfield and Rocky Hill) and a 3-1 defeat to Masuk. The difference in the Hawks having more wins is a shot off the post here or there, and some other bad breaks that haven’t gone the team’s way, Esposito said.

“We’re skating with all these teams. It’s just a matter of getting those small bounces,” the coach added.

Esposito and his players also recognize that improved play would also result in more success. The Hawks need more consistency in all facets of the game and to cut down on miscues, Esposito said.

In Monday’s game, the Hawks showed one strong suit: resiliency. After falling behind 2-0, Newtown got back into the game by capitalizing on the power play. Max Beitel set up Matthew Wright’s goal, which sliced the St Joseph lead in half with 9:16 to play in the middle period.

The power play nearly backfired later in the period, but Bloomberg bailed out his team with consecutive saves on St Joseph’s shorthanded chances.

“He’s a phenomenal goalie,” Esposito said. “Mitch has kept us in a ton of games.”

In the third period Newtown finally tied the game. Wright stick-handled from behind the St Joseph goal line, skated in front and sent the puck into the crease where Christian Beitel jammed home the game-tying tally, less than five minutes into the final stanza. But the celebration was short-lived. With 4:45 to play, St Joseph’s Patrick Corcoran found the net for a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute later Curtis McKeon made it 4-2. An empty-netter in the waning seconds sealed things.

“It would have been nice if we could have kept that tempo up,” Newtown’s Francis Oggeri said.

Bloomberg stopped 40 of the first 42 shots he faced. The high number of shots against is indicative, in part, to the fact the game plan is to keep the opponents to the outside and allow long-range shots, Esposito said. But the Hawks need to allow less than 50 on any given day to have a decent shot at winning — no matter how well Bloomberg is playing.

“Ultimately you want to keep your shots down,” Esposito acknowledged.

The opponent’s shot total would not climb that high if the Hawks took better care of the puck in their own end of the ice, Bloomberg said.

“Lately we’ve been having a hard time getting the puck out of our zone,” Bloomberg said. “We’re trying — we’re practicing hard.”

Newtown had a chance to tie the game at 3-3 when Wright was denied from pointblank range by St Joseph’s Zachary Carrano (19 saves) with about four minutes to play. Newtown’s comeback effort was a positive sign, but the Hawks are itching to get over the hump and turn some of these heart-breaking losses into riveting wins.

Newtown did exact revenge on New Fairfield with a 5-4 win on January 9. The Hawks’ only other win was a 4-3 victory over Joel Barlow.

Newtown, after playing the Watertown/Pomperaug co-op team Wednesday, plays the same team again on Saturday, then still has ten games to look forward to, including a rematch with St Joseph on February 18 and another battle with Barlow, on February 23.