Boys Soccer Preps for new Season

The Newtown boys soccer team may be young and inexperienced but they also are hardworking and talented, all of which highlight some of the factors facing this year's team.

Last year, the Nighthawks were 12-7-1 overall, 10-5-1 in the regular season. They lost to Joel Barlow in the South-West Conference semifinals and to Class LL champion Staples — which was the top-ranked team in New England and fifth-ranked team nationally — in the second round of the state playoffs on penalty kicks.

From last year's starters, the Nighthawks lost seven seniors, including three who are playing in college — center midfielder Evan Kennedy, defender Matt Flaherty and attacker Jeff DiNicola, who are playing for Sacred Heart, Montclair State and Salisbury College, respectively.

Despite losing players of their caliber, Newtown is confident it will be able to re-load instead of rebuild.

"I feel pretty good," said Nighthawks Coach Brian Neumeyer. "We're young, athletic and hardworking and I'm excited about the team."

Senior tri-captain Hank Helgren said, "A lot of us come from good club teams and we have to develop maturity. If we do, we'll fill some gaps."

Newtown is a traditional powerhouse that develops top players at its youth program. One of those players from the past is Marcus Tracy, who led the Nighthawks to the Class LL title in 2004, received the Hermann Trophy for the nation's most outstanding college player while at Wake Forest University in 2008 and is playing professionally for Aalborg in Denmark.

Based on Tracy's success, there could be another diamond in the rough ready to duplicate his performance.

The 2010 Nighthawks are led by senior tri-captains Josh Engler (defensive center midfielder), Helgren (midfielder) and Ishan Patake (goalie). The other seniors on the squad are Nick Wright (midfield), Andre Capazello (forward), Greg Campbell (defense), Jason Marks (goalie) and Dave LeBlanc (midfield).

There are many players from the other classes on the squad. Center midfielders Ryan Dennigan and Josh Barrett are the top juniors. Sophomore Eric Fiore will bolster Newtown on defense and classmate Nick Baretto is like a utility player who plays everywhere. Two freshmen, defender Logan Puleri and forward Nate Kalra are also expected to contribute.

"We look very good," said Engler. "We have a lot of young guys but they are hard working. We hope to have a winning season and make a good run at SWCs and States."

Opposing teams aren't expecting the Nighthawks to duplicate their 2004 squad, which will work to their advantage.

"We're a close knit group and if we can work together and gel, we'll do well," said Helgren. "We aren't on anyone's radar. We're a sleeper team and we hope to improve from last year's team. We hope to go as far as we can go."

Possessing size will also help Newtown. The Nighthawks have four players who are over 6-feet and hope to use their size advantage by being physical on the field.

"We have to win tackles because I haven't been in a game where we won tackles but lost the game," Engler said. "We have to be more physical than other teams and if we do that, we'll win games."

The team plays its season opener on Tuesday against Oxford.