Brookfield Shuts Down Newtown

On a night that felt more like fall then spring, it was only fitting that the Newtown (9-3, 7-2) and Brookfield (7-5, 5-4) boys lacrosse teams engaged in a physical, low-scoring affair befitting a football game.  Both teams delivered big blows in the defensive battle, with the Bobcats imposing their will on the Nighthawks to earn an impressive 4-3 victory.

"I truly believe the team was motivated," Brookfield coach Tim Oelgoetz said of his team that had lost two tough games in a row coming in.  "We talked a lot about team.  Everyone together achieves more.  They knew they could do it, they believed."

Brookfield goaltender Mitch Fenton set the tone early by making numerous big saves in the first quarter to keep Newtown from jumping out to a lead.  The Nighthawks had eight shots in the opening quarter but found themselves down 1-0. 

Bobcats senior captain Matt Bonn scored the game's first goal when Brookfield scooped up a rebound off a miss and freshman attacker Nick Biasetti delivered a pass from behind the net to a cutting Bonn.

Brookfield went up 2-0 in the second quarter, taking advantage of being a man up after a Newtown penalty.  Tom Gilligan, another Brookfield senior captain found the back of the net off a wrist shot from the top left corner of the box.

Newtown cut the lead to 2-1 at 3:56 when junior Will Northrop scored the Nighthawks only goal of the half.  Northrop drove into the Bobcat defense and fired a shot that got past Fenton.

The Bobcats wasted no time building the lead back up to two goals, getting a second from Gilligan, who raced down the sideline after making a great catch for a breakaway goal at 3:13.

"Tom Gilligan straight up had a great day," Oelgoetz said.

Gilligan then found a cutting sophomore Tyler Heckman for a 4-1 lead with just over a minute remaining in the half.  Heckman leapt into the air as Gilligan delivered the feed from behind the net and put home the goal with a quick shot.

"Tyler buried it," coach Oelgoetz said of the great play.  "That was a text book cross."

The goal by Heckman turned out to be the game-winner as Brookfield relied on its defense and its goaltender to hold on for the win in the second half.  Newtown outshot the Bobcats 15-9 in the first half and 14-7 in the second but Bonn was up to the task all game long.

"First off I have to tip my hat to Brookfield," Newtown coach Glenn Adams said.  "They played a great game and their goaltender was great.  But it's all about execution.  We had 29 shots and three goals.  We didn't shoot the ball very well."

With less than 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter Newtown finally scored it's second goal, cutting the lead to 4-2.  Junior Colby Summerlin caught and shot a quick pass from Northrop to keep the Nighthawks in the game.

Newtown controlled possession of the ball for most of the fourth quarter and eventually scored with 1:03 remaining to set-up a frantic final minute.  Senior Dylan Huebner got the goal to make it 4-3.

Newtown gained possession off the draw and set their offense but the Bobcat defense wouldn't give in.  Besides the strong effort of Fenton, defenders Harry Maliszewki, Zach Warner, Frank Acquanita and Justin Dobosh kept the Nighthawks from getting the good shots it wanted.

"Mitch played on his head, he was phenomenal," Oelgoetz said.  "Defensively we played very well.  The whole team played on their heads.  I'm very pleased."

The win for Brookfield ended the Nighthawks six-game winning streak.

"We had too many mental mistakes, turnovers," coach Adams said.  "We had plenty of opportunities early on, it shouldn't have come down to that.  We have seen better days."

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