Tucker Garrity played the role of playmaker, recording four assists, throughout 47:55 of regulation in the May 27 Class L State Tournament qualifying round contest between Newtown High School and visiting Fairfield Warde, at Blue & Gold Stadium.

Garrity then took on the task of scoring the two most timely goals of Newtown's season. Garrity forced overtime with his first net-finder of the day, in the waning seconds, and won the game 13-12, when he whipped home a shot with 50 seconds left in the first four-minute overtime stanza.

The late-game heroics capped a wild comeback as the No. 13 Nighthawks scored the last three goals of regulation, survived and advanced, and ended No. 20 Warde's season in stunning fashion.

Newtown advances to visit No. 4 Ridgefield in the official first round, on Wednesday, May 31, beginning at 4:30 pm.

"The kids are tough. They don't give up. As poorly as I thought we played at times we played really well at times," Newtown Coach Scott Bulkley said. "I'm happy for the guys because I know they want to keep going."

The state playoff opener with Warde was a game of runs. Newtown led 5-2 in the first half, and was ahead two goals late in the second quarter before the Mustangs fought back for a 6-5 halftime lead.

Warde kept it going out of the break and, all told, scored six straight goals to claim an 8-5 lead, answered a Newtown goal for a 9-6 advantage late in the third, and was ahead 9-7 heading to the fourth. The Hawks hung around but fell behind by three goals four different times in the second half, including 10-7 and eventually 12-9 with just 4:04 remaining in regulation before recording the final four goals of the game.

"They fought back from three goals down and then we fought back from three goals down. At the end of the game it's really who has the ball," Bulkley said.

Newtown faceoff specialist Layton Harrell's late-game dominance on draw controls gave Newtown's offense a chance in the final quarter and in OT, and the Hawks kept the shots on goal coming.

After Newtown got to within 12-10 on Brennan Mayer's tally, set up by Garrity with 2:57 left, Warde appeared to go back up three goals but a crease violation waived off the tally. Still, it seemed Newtown's season would end as the seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock. But Garrity assisted Mark Hall to make it 12-11 with 49 seconds left, and another Harrell faceoff win set the stage for the tying tally.

The Hawks had three shot attempts in a span of 13 seconds, and Garrity finally forced OT with a shot from the left side, with just 5 seconds to go.

Newtown, beginning with Harrell's control off the draw, dominated possession in overtime and had a handful of shots before Garrity capitalized on a Warde turnover with a blast from straight away, set up by Harrell.

Garrity logged a team-high 14 shots but he and the Hawks struggled to capitalize at times. Garrity made two of his final three attempts count, sparking a celebration when he tied the score and another player pileup when he ended the contest.

Man advantage opportunities benefited both teams, and Newtown scored twice during a player advantage early in the fourth quarter when a Warde player was assessed a three-minute, non-releasable illegal stick violation. It ended up being a two-minute advantage due to an illegal glove penalty on Newtown, but the Hawks made good use of those two minutes.

When all was said and done Hall had four goals and an assist, Harrell recorded three goals and an assist, Scott Bauer logged two goals and four assists, and Evan Eggleston and Brennan Mayer added tallies.

Mason Colon made eight saves between the pipes for Newtown.