By Steve Bigham

The Newtown High boys’ soccer team was not exactly celebrating Tuesday night, although its scoreless tie with Kolbe Cathedral all-but assured it of a spot in next week’s South-West Conference (SWC) playoffs.

Head coach Brian Neumeyer breathed a sigh of relief as the final horn sounded and his players jogged off the Treadwell Park pitch. The playoff-bound Kolbe (10-1-2) is a tough club made up of talented inner-city Bridgeport athletes, many of whom communicated in Spanish.

“This was a matchup of two good teams, but we’re disappointed with the tie. It could have gone either way,” he said. “We certainly didn’t earn anything. We deserved the tie.”

The tie hurt Newtown’s chances of capturing the regular season title and a top seed in the postseason. The final seedings still remained in question last Friday night following Newtown’s 0-0 tie at Masuk in Monroe. Both teams entered the match at the top of the SWC standings with 10-1 records.

Masuk, now 11-1-1, took a half game lead over Newtown Tuesday with a 5-0 win over Pomperaug. But that lead could have been erased with the Panthers either tying or losing to Kolbe in a match scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Neumeyer will enter next week’s playoff knowing that his team has only one loss against the three other semi-finalists, but no wins - only ties.

As Neumeyer can attest, Kolbe is a very tough team and should be reckoned with in the SWCs. Joel Barlow (10-1-2) must also play Kolbe next week. Newtown is expected to play its semi-final match next Wednesday at bethel, although its opponent must still be determined. Its final two regular season matches are Friday (today) at Pomperaug and Monday at home against Immaculate.

Against Kolbe, it was goaltender Tom Malloy (10 saves) and the three defensemen in front of him, who came up big. To date, this four-man tandem has given up just four goals - three of which were on free kicks.

“Tom has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Neumeyer, who is also blessed by a defensive corps, which includes Bret McEvoy, Scott Walrath and TJ Wolferseder.

Newtown had a handful of opportunities during 80 minutes worth of regulation and another 10 minutes of overtime. Rob Weiss’ shot from 20 years out was barely tipped away by Kolbe goalie Phil Moura early in the second overtime. But Newtown had few opportunities and Neumeyer scolded his players for not applying more pressure. Kolbe dominated the game at times. Newtown’s coach believes he and his squad may have underestimated Kolbe - a team Newtown easily defeated a year ago.

“Down the stretch, we have to play better than we did tonight. We just have to finish up with two wins,” Neumeyer said.

In what had been billed as a marquee matchup with Masuk turned out to be somewhat anti-climatic after a mood-dampering injury to Ryan Eaton who suffered a serious concussion early on in the second half.

“Over the last 30 minutes we were just playing to get it over with,” Neumeyer said. “Nobody wanted to win this game. He snapped his neck and landed on the ground. It was his fifth concussion.”

The Masuk game could best be described as a draw between to equal and worthy opponents. Freshman Ryan Tracy hit the post 20 minutes into the game. The near miss drew a sigh from the crowd, as one goal would have won the game. Rich Engel also had a good shot, but the Masuk goalie blocked it. Malloy recorded another shutout in goal.

PLAYER          G    A   PT

Engel                 10      5     15

Weiss                   5      4      9

Gossling               5      3      8

Cavanaugh             6      2      8

Wolferseder           1      4      5

Armstrong             1      4      5

Rouse                  3      1      4

Smith                   1      2      3

Hoppmeyer            0      2      2

Miller                   0      1      1

 Tracy                  1      0      1

Malloy                  0      1      1

Kugielsky              0      1      1

Gruendig              1      0      1

Walrath                 0      1      1

NOTE:_The SWC_semi-finals will be held Wednesday,_November 1, at_Bethel High School.