Newtown High School's girls' lacrosse team defeated visiting Bunnell of Stratford 18-4 on April 20, for its sixth straight victory to begin the season. The Nighthawks suffered their first loss in a 4-3 overtime setback at nonconference foe Ridgefield on April 24, then bounced back to outscore host Weston 15-13 in a battle of South-West Conference squads on April 25.

The Hawks dominated against Bunnell. Goaltender Catie Gregory had her first varsity start and tallied eight saves.

Morgan Scalfani netted three goals and an assist, Julia Sughrue and Charli Condon both scored three times, Hana Rosenthal had two goals and three assists, Dylan Zahansky had two goals and an assist, Alex Futterman and Alison Kelleher both scored goals and added two assists, Nevan Gattey and Rylee Harrell each scored a goal and assisted on another, and Lindsey Merrifield added two helpers.

Newtown's defense held FCIAC powerhouse Ridgefield, which had scored no fewer than nine goals in a game coming in, to just one-third that total in regulation, but the Hawks didn't gain possession in overtime and fell.

"We had success on the defensive end sliding early, and Tess Davenport had a great night with 18 saves," Newtown Coach Maura Fletcher said of her defense and goaltender. "We had trouble transitioning the ball with Ridgefield's aggressive midfield play."

Merrifield, Futterman, and Sughrue all hit the back of the net for the Nighthawks.

Against Weston, on a rainy evening, the Hawks did a good job sharing the ball and in their transition game, Fletcher said, to build a lead and hang on.

Futterman led the offensive outburst with six tallies, Condon had two goals and a trio of assists, Kelleher and Sughrue both had two goals and two assists, Zahansky scored twice, Keeley Kortze registered a goal, and Gattey contributed two assists.

The Hawks will play nonconference foe Fairfield Warde (a 6-2 team) on Thursday, April 27 and will host rival Joel Barlow of Redding on Monday, May 1. Both games are at Blue & Gold Stadium at 7 pm.