Newtown High School’s boys’ lacrosse team made it four wins in five games and kicked off a regular-season closing four-game homestand with an 11-6 win over South-West Conference rival New Milford at Blue & Gold Stadium on May 7.

The Nighthawks improved to 7-6 and, in doing so, clinched a berth in state tournament play by ensuring a winning percentage of at least .400. Newtown also bolstered its SWC playoff positioning by dropping the Green Wave to 8-5.

Jake Ball, Jack Condon, and Dan Hebert all scored twice, and Alec Beauchemin, Deegan Beauchemin, Jack Kearney, Tom Bauer, and Matt Lindell also hit the back of the net. Newtown goalkeeper Evan Isaacs made 15 saves. Kearney led the way in the ground ball scooping category, coming up with six grounders, and Doug Miller, Deegan Beauchemin, and Nick Rubino all had four pickups.

Newtown Coach Glenn Adams also commended the defensive play, particularly that of Rubino and Cam Partrick.

“Our D’s been stepping up the past couple of weeks,” said Adams, whose team held opponents to six or fewer goals in seven of the last nine games.

A big reason for holding the Wave to six netfinders in this game was the play of Isaacs. Adams pointed out that his team maintained a three-point halftime lead thanks to the efforts of Isaacs, and noted that the Hawks could have been trailing by three at the intermission if not for his stingy play.

“Evan Isaacs again stepped up huge for us,” the coach said.

Adams was pleased with his team’s performance all the way around, including when it had possession of the ball.

“We were just smart with it. We were patient. We didn’t want to force it and have turnovers,” Adams said.

The coach said the team hasn’t been consistent this campaign, and he hopes there is some carryover from the New Milford game into the final three as the Hawks gear up for the playoffs.

Adams expects to be among the top four teams in the SWC Division I tourney. The season concludes with contests against SWC rival Masuk of Monroe on May 9, and nonconference opponents Hall of West Hartford at 2 pm on Saturday, May 11, and Xavier of Middletown at 7 pm on Thursday, May 16 — both at Blue and Gold.

“All tough games,” Adams said of the final few. “We’ve got to come to play.”