Trailing 1-0 and with starting goaltender Kyle Murphy out of the game after sustaining an injury, things weren't looking so good for Newtown High School's hockey team in its clash with Joel Barlow of Redding, at Danbury Ice Arena, on December 28.

But the Nighthawks scored two goals in a span of 36 seconds in the final minute of the second period, and added four more third-period tallies for a 6-1 victory. Backup goalie Justin Halmose, a sophomore getting his first varsity action after a call-up from the junior varsity roster, blanked the Falcons for the last 25-plus minutes of game play. Newtown improved to 2-1 in the early going, and Barlow fell to 0-2.

Newtown Coach Paul Esposito admitted he was nervous with the way things were unfolding in the first half of the game, but was pleasantly surprised by his team's turnaround.

"I thought he did exceptionally well under the circumstances, didn't let anything in, held his ground," Esposito said of his up-and-coming netminder. "I'm really proud of him. He rose to the occasion."

Strong defensive play, from Scott Bauer, Jetson Ku, and Adam Gray in particular, Esposito noted, aided Halmose, who said he had to shake some jitters.

"A lot of deep breaths to calm myself down, focus on the game and make simple saves," were keys to staying poised between the pipes, Halmose said.

Barlow scored in the opening period but couldn't add to its lead and the Nighthawks started to generate more and more chances as the game unfolded.

Finally, after killing off a penalty and getting a power play opportunity of its own, Newtown evened the score, with 57 seconds left in the middle period. Jack Hanley potted his own rebound for his first goal of the campaign and first of two in the game. Esposito said he talked to Hanley before the game and told the centerman he was due to break through.

Leaving the Falcons no time to recover, Newtown struck again for a 2-1 lead. Domenic Cartelli slid the puck to Scott McLean near center ice, and McLean broke in alone for a breakaway goal which he scored on the backhand, with just 21 ticks left on the second-period scoreboard clock.

Newtown narrowly missed scoring a third goal in the final minute of the stanza, but kept the momentum going early in the third period.

McLean returned the favor to Cartelli, who finished off an odd-man rush after McLean beat Barlow's goalie to the puck out near the faceoff circle hash marks, and made a quick pass to his linemate for an open-net opportunity he finished. The goal came only 1:32 into the period.

Just a 1:01 later, Marc Carlson added to the lead on his first net-finder of the campaign, assisted by Cole Bepko and Jiyei Hawke.

Newtown went up 5-1 only 4:04 into the period as Cartelli lit the lamp again, on another tally set up by McLean. Hanley scored on a wraparound midway through the period after taking pass from Devin Marsh.

David Brestovansky, part of the top line along with Cartelli and McLean, had a pair of secondary assists.

Esposito was pleased with the physicality displayed by Carlson, and poise by Gray with the puck deep in the Newtown zone, adding that Gray initiated some crisp breakouts.

The game was a bit rough in the early going; at one point in the second period, Newtown had four players in the penalty box at once.

This was a home game for Barlow; both teams play out of Danbury. The Nighthawks will host Trinity Catholic of Stamford, on Friday, December 30, with puck drop set for 8 pm.