Girls’ Booters Boast Offensive Firepower

By Andy Hutchison

Too many things need to go right for a soccer team to win for Marc Kenney to make any sort of predictions about his team in 2012. All too often it’s that one weird bounce, that seemingly elusive goal — “So much of it is out of your control. You have to be a little bit lucky,” Kenney notes — that determines the winner of a given match.

That said, Kenney, the head coach of Newtown High School’s girls’ soccer team, is confident his team will — at the very least — make a push for South-West Conference and state tournament victories.

“I think we’ll be in the mix. I think we’ll be very good,” Kenney said.

Coming off a disappointing finish to an otherwise successful season, the Nighthawks certainly are on a hunt for success this fall.

Last year, Newtown (11-1-4) fell to New Milford in a down-to-the-wire SWC title game and got all the way to the Class LL state tourney semifinals before losing to Trumbull in another one-goal elimination game.

“Last year was a little bit of a letdown. It just made us more hungry. We’re seeking to do our best — put our best foot forward and start the season with a bang,” senior goalkeeper and captain Caitlin Yakush said.

“Yeah, it was sort of a bittersweet ending but, looking back on the season now, the effort and the preparation to get to that point — that is the right way to handle things so I think we’re doing that again, in the same fashion,” Kenney said.

The coach added that the Nighthawks stayed focused throughout the entire season, and is hopeful that the this year’s squad does the same. Kenney thinks his team’s returnees took a lot from last year’s experiences. “That opened their eyes a little bit, in terms of what this group of capable of,” he said.

Among six graduates were three starters — all on defense. Anna Northrop takes the center back position previously held by one of those graduates, standout Maddy Keane. In front of the back line is a lot of experience. Senior captain Amy Martin, senior Tressa Scott, senior Bridget Power, and sophomore Brenna Kelly will be key players at the midfield position. Up front, Brittany Tolla, a former All-SWC honoree who missed all of last year with a torn ACL, is back for her senior year. Other strong forwards are senior Melissa Buccino and sophomores Jess Keller and Sarah Lynch.

Kenney liked what he saw in the preseason.

“I think we’ve been very solid offensively. In the middle and offensive third we’ve been very good,” the coach said.

Kenney considers New Milford, Joel Barlow of Redding, Pomperaug of Southbury, and Immaculate of Danbury to be the toughest conference squads. Masuk of Monroe is always a challenging rival of Newtown’s as well.

Kenney says this is fun group and he’s looking forward to the campaign, his sixth with the team.

The Nighthawks were scheduled to begin the season at Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport on Wednesday (after The Bee sports section went to press). Newtown’s home opener is set for Saturday, September 15, when Bethel visits for a 10 am start.