Lady Panthers trounce Newtown in the Rain

Any teams aiming for the SWC title need to beat the Masuk girls soccer team. Masuk has been a perennial powerhouse for years and showed its winning form on Tuesday afternoon in the rain in a 4-0 home victory over Newtown.

"It's very satisfying," said Lady Panthers coach Eleanor Brainard. "We have a long way to go. We were playing without a few starters earlier in the year and it's good to get them back. A lot of kids stepped up today."

Masuk raised its record to 3-1-2. Newtown suffered its first loss of the year and dropped to 4-1-3.

"It's significant because it proves we can beat good teams and it's a confidence-builder," said Brianard. "They see this is the level they have to play at in order to win these type of games."

Although the Lady Nighthawks outshot the Lady Panthers, 9-6, they felt their hosts outplayed them and deserved the victory.

"These guys [Masuk] were outstanding and took it to us," said Newtown coach Mark Kenney. "We were outworked. Masuk decided it wanted to win, we decided we only wanted to show up and felt maybe we can, maybe we can't win. We can't do that, especially against a great team like Masuk."

Lady Nighthawk sophomore Brittany Tolla took a few shots but Lady Panther senior tri-captain goalie Emily Antanucci (nine saves) was there to stop her. Antanucci caught one of her shots from point-blank range in the second half.

Getting to the net wasn't easy for Tolla because junior Jill Scholler guarded her like a blanket.

"I stayed with her and I knew where she was at all times," Scholler said. "Whenever she got the ball, I followed her and made sure she didn't do any damage."

Scholler anchored Masuk's defense, which kept the ball away from Antanucci for the most part. Complementing her on defense were seniors Ali Muro and Amy Klopp.

"We were all composed and the defense was solid," said Scholler. "We all wanted it so badly."

The Lady Panthers took a 1-0 lead late in the first half when senior tri-captain Marissa Maiolo scored on a free kick. This was the score at the half.

"I just told myself to calm down, I didn't think and it went in," said Maiolo.

Maiolo and juniors Sam Vlahos and Monica McCarter were instrumental in Masuk controlling the midfield, which helped it distribute the ball and have a solid transition.

Vlahos made it 2-0 off a feed in the corner from classmate Becky Rivera in the early part of the second half. Maiolo boomed a shot from 40 yards out on the right wing that took a floating bounce that bounced in to make it 3-0.

"I could see their defense had their heads down and I was looking for the open shot and hoped for the best," Maiolo said.

Junior Alyson Barton closed out the scoring with the Lady Panthers' second long distance goal when she boomed a shot from 45 yards out that went in the net. Muro set up the play with a cross and was credited with an assist.

Masuk had a chance to make it 5-0 but Newtown senior quad-captain midfielder Sarah Attanasio kicked it out of the net. Senior quad-captain Lauren Meyer also played well for the Lady Nighthawks.

"We just didn't play as hard as we could have," said Meyer. "The conditions weren't great but that wasn't an excuse."

Newtown hopes to get back on the winning track on Thursday when it travels to Weston.

"One loss is no big deal and it's not the end of the world," said Kenney. "We just have to play harder."

Meyer said, "We just have to focus. We've had opportunities and we need to put the ball in the back of the net."

Conversely, the Lady Panthers feel good. After hosting Notre Dame of Fairfield today and travelling to Bunnell on Thursday, they will be tested next Monday when they travel to Joel Barlow. They hope to use this win as a springboard for their big tests.

Masuk was also happy to play after being rained out so many times.

"It was good to finally play," said Maiolo. "It was definitely huge since we didn't play to our potential earlier in the year. It puts us in a different mood for the rest of the season."

The Lady Panthers feel good but are staying within themselves.

"It's good for us but we have to stay within our game plan," said Brainard. "We have to stress the fundamentals and play solid soccer."