Sparked by not one but two hat-tricks off the stick of Tucker Garrity, the second-seeded Newtown High School boys' lacrosse team defeated visiting and third-seeded Weston 11-7 in the South-West Conference tournament semifinals, under the lights at Blue andamp; Gold Stadium, on May 23.

With the win, the Nighthawks will face top-seeded New Fairfield in the championship game, at neutral site New Milford, Friday, May 25, beginning at 7 pm.

In addition to Garrity's six goals - three of which came in a span of 25 seconds late in the third quarter as part of a five-goal Newtown barrage - Aiden Coleman scored twice, and Layton Harrell, Declan Sughrue, and Evan Eggleston hit the back of the net.

Eggleston and Garrity each had two assists, and Jeff Garrity, Harrell, and Sughrue added a helper apiece.

Newtown goaltender Jake Dandrea made nine saves and received strong defensive support from a contingent of players, led by Tyler Rising and Kyle Shirk, who had three and seven ground ball scoops, respectively.

The Nighthawks led 4-2 at the half. Dandrea made a save on an in-close chance just seconds into the third quarter, and Tucker Garrity scored less than two minutes into the stanza for a three-goal cushion.

The Trojans closed to within 5-4 by the mid point of the third, but Newtown seized control by reeling off five unanswered goals in the final 4:47 of the third.

Coleman scored twice for a 7-4 lead that stood for 2:59. Tucker Garrity notched a trio of net-finders in just over two-dozen seconds in the final half-minute of the period. His fifth goal of the night, with just two seconds left in the stanza, came following a series of stick fakes, after Jeff Garrity's blind pass to his brother. Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley said the sibling connection is a special one on the field.

"You don't make that pass unless you know exactly where he is, and they've probably made that pass together 1,000 times in the back yard," Bulkley said.

In a matter of minutes, the Hawks turned a 5-4 nail-biter into a 10-4 lead. Coincidentally, NHS had a 5-4 halftime lead over host Weston in the regular-season meeting, then pulled away in the second half for a 10-4 win.

But the playoff matchup still had one quarter to play after the latest 10-4 NHS lead over Weston. The Trojans netted three straight tallies in the fourth to slice the lead in half before Tucker Garrity finished the scoring.

"They're a team that doesn't want to lose, they keep battling, they're well coached, they fight hard," Bulkley said of the Trojans.

But Weston couldn't overcome Newtown's flurry of goals.

"We scored in bursts. I think we played pretty good defense at times," Bulkley said of the keys to victory.

Another contributing factor was inserting Harrell into the faceoff circle to provide a spark with one of the team's top scoring threats gaining multiple possessions after Weston kept things close early in the second half, Bulkley said.

The Hawks defeated No. 7 Brookfield 18-4 in the quarterfinals, at Blue andamp; Gold, the day before. Coleman scored four times, Tucker Garrity had three goals and three assists, Jeff Garrity had two net-finders and three assists, Eggleston scored twice and added a pair of helpers, Harrell scored twice and added an assist, Brandon Manka had two goals, and Sughrue added a goal and set up three others. Brett Pierce and Patrick Glover each added tallies, and Will Swierbut recorded an assist.

Championship game opponent New Fairfield went unbeaten in the regular season, including a 14-7 win over Newtown.

"They're good in transition. They're a good team, and well-coached," Bulkley said.