Despite compiling ten penalty corners and 11 shots toward the cage in the opening half, while holding visiting nonconference foe Watertown without any corners, or chances for that matter, Newtown High School’s field hockey team was locked up in a scoreless tie in a September 21 game at Treadwell Park.

Maybe the halftime break and a little pep talk was all the Nighthawks needed to flip the switch from near miss to can’t miss. They scored on their first chance of the second half, and again off their first penalty corner after the intermission, and pulled away for a 4-0 triumph.

“We weren’t playing our game. We were playing with less intensity. We just couldn’t finish in the circle,” Newtown Coach Stephanie Paproski said of her squad’s first half performance. “But at halftime we regrouped; we talked about what we had to do.”

And that was pretty much just to raise that level of intensity and work harder to finish off the chances that the Nighthawks were creating. They actually generated less opportunities in the final 30 minutes than they did in the opening 30, but the difference was execution; NHS had just a pair of second-half penalty corners and a handful of shots on the cage.

Emily Dirga got the scoring started when she finished off a play initiated by Alison Kelleher, who controlled the ball deep into Watertown territory. The goal came less than five minutes into the half.

Watertown came to life a bit after the break, itself, and mustered some chances — most of which were stymied by Newtown’s stout defense. Megan Goyda blocked a shot to help keep it a 1-0 game, and Kayla Disibio also broke up an opportunity and carried the ball most of the length of the field to generate another Nighthawk scoring chance, one of few second-half setups Newtown didn’t cash in on.

With 17:30 left in regulation, the Hawks added to their lead as Lauren Zimmerman’s penalty corner feed helped set up Goyda’s long-range cage-finder, assisted by Megan Kelleher.

Disibio, in addition to playing well defensively, also got on the score sheet with a goal to make it 3-0 with just under 14 and a half minutes left.

Paproski was particularly happy with her team’s passing and movement without the ball, to get into position. The last goal of the day featured solid teamwork and crisp ball movement as Alison Kelleher got the ball onto the stick of Zimmerman, who set up Danielle Samson for the tally.

“That’s the way we should be playing,” Paproski commented.

Newtown goaltender Nathalie Shaker only needed to make one stop to help the Nighthawks earn their second straight shutout. They blanked Brookfield 1-0 behind a Shannon Lynch goal, on September 17. In the Watertown game, defenders Katie Cappelli, Tori Kroha, and Olivia Butler helped fend off the visitors as they helped protect the home team’s cage.

“I’m very pleased with the turnaround,” the coach said of her team’s second-half performance.

The Nighthawks carried a 2-1 overall record into a Friday, September 25 matchup with South-West Conference rival New Milford, at Blue & Gold Stadium, beginning at 7 pm. Newtown is also home for a Tuesday, September 29 clash with Weston, also under the lights at Blue & Gold, beginning at 7 pm.

“I’d like our team to remember this game and play the way we did in the second half. We played with confidence,” Paproski said.