Newtown High School's boys' lacrosse team extended its winning streak to seven games with a pair of victories over nonconference opponents, scoring a 12-8 victory at Guilford on April 26 and a 10-7 triumph at Glastonbury two days later, then besting South-West Conference foe Weston 10-4 on the road on May 1, and doubling up host Masuk of Monroe 14-7 on May 3.The Bee.

The Nighthawks, who wrapped up a stretch of five straight games on the road, improved to 11-2 overall and 8-0 in SWC play.

"We are starting to play as a team, playing team offense and defense. The young players on our team have really stepped up and couldn't be prouder of how hard the whole program is playing right now," Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley said following the win over Glastonbury.

In the victory over Guilford, Tucker Garrity had four goals and two assists and Layton Harrell had two goals and three assists to lead the offense. Evan Eggleston recorded two goals and an assist, Declan Sughrue scored twice, and Jeff Garrity and Aiden Coleman each added net-finders. Newtown goaltender Jake Dandrea made ten saves.

Against Glastonbury, Tucker Garrity logged three goals and four assists, and Harrell notched four tallies. Sughrue had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Garrity and Michael Garner both had goals. Brandon Manka and Eggleston both had assists. Dandrea came up with eight saves.

In the trip to Weston, the Hawks led 5-4 at the half before outscoring the Trojans 5-0 in over the course of the third and fourth quarters, in doing so handing Weston only its second defeat in conference and overall this spring.

Harrell netted a hat-trick, Coleman and Sughrue both scored twice, and Tucker Garrity, Brett Pierce, and Kyle Shirk also tallied. Sughrue had five ground ball scoops, and Tucker Garrity and Coleman each came up with four. Dandrea made 11 saves.

A big component of Newtown's success was in possessing the ball. Faceoff specialist Tanner Stergue won about 80 percent of his draws, enabling the Hawks to keep pressure on the Trojans.

"I try to win it to myself and my teammates always have my back on the wings," Stergue said. "That's what's been pushing us to succeed."

Newtown's best defense was its offense - really its domination of ball control - in the third quarter, when Dandrea needed to make only one save and two goals by Harrell and a net-finder off Pierce's stick enabled the Hawks to seize control as they carried an 8-4 advantage into the final 12-minute stanza.

"By getting possession our offense was able to put a lot of pressure on their defense by having the ball," Bulkley noted.

Newtown's defense worked hard to force turnovers and limit Weston's chances, particularly in the second half.

"I'm super proud of how hard they played. The defense has really stepped up," said Bulkley, emphasizing that it has been a collective effort from his defenders who are playing to their strengths in the process of limiting nine opposing teams to single-digit scoring.

"We still want to grow. I don't think we're satisfied with where we are right now. We're happy but we know we have work to do," the coach added.

The Hawks will host Briarcliff in the third and final meeting with a challenging New York team, Saturday, May 5, at 3 pm. NHS will host one of the best in the SWC, Joel Barlow of Redding on Tuesday, May 8, beginning at 7 pm. Both of those games will take place at Blue & Gold Stadium.

Newtown finishes the regular slate with a visit to currently unbeaten New Fairfield, which has given up no more than five goals in a contest this spring. The game is set for Monday, May 14, at 6 pm.

Read more about this games, including the Masuk contest, in the May 11 print edition of