Nighthawks Bounce Back With Win Over Immaculate

The Newtown High School boys soccer team bounced back from an unexpected opening day loss to Oxford, with a 3-0 win over the Mustangs from Immaculate on Thursday.

Newtown dominated the ball in the air and were able to hold onto possession for about 90-percent of the match. The Newtown players seemed to come right out of the gate with a chip on their shoulders, as they fought through every ball on the ground as well. They responded well to head coach Brian Neumeyer who called his players "soft" after an opening day loss.

Josh Barrett, a junior leader on the defensive side of the ball for Newtown, said he was pleased with the effort.

"It was a good bounce-back game for us," he said. "We were solid in the back and didn't have any stupid mistakes."

Goalie Ishan Tatake, who was only tested once throughout the match after making a diving stop to his right, said it was the work ethic that made the biggest difference from the first game.

"We came out hard today and won tackles; then the possession and goals came after," he said. "But the main thing was to get after the game and win tackles."

The patience and tactical possession of the ball was impressive for Newtown, a staple of Neumeyer teams. Newtown was patient.

The Immaculate players just simply couldn't put a solid string of possessions together.

Sophomore forward Nick Barreto put the Nighthawks on the scoreboard first. Two Mustang defenders went up for a header against a Nighthawk mid fielder -- and after a foul was called, Newtown's Hank Helgren played the ball forward quickly. Waiting for the ball was Barreto who collected the pass and blasted it past the Immaculate goaltender.

The next two goals for the Nighthawks came off of corner kicks. Andre Capozziello collected a corner kick, made a move on the Mustang defenders, pulled the ball back and blasted a shot home in the crowded box. The goal put Newtown up 2-0.

Two back to back opportunities by Immaculate in the second half led Neumyer to yell to his team to tighten up the midfield.

"It has got to be cleaned up," he said after two shots went soaring over the goalpost.  
Ryan Dunnigan tallied the third goal for Newtown after the Nighthawks took a short corner kick in the second half. Amidst confusion by the Mustang defense, Newtown once again played the ball quickly, and Dunnigan was able to get an angle and blast the ball into the top crossbar, which then landed behind the goal line to put the Nighthawks up 3-0.

Neumyer was pleased with the way his team came back after the loss to Oxford.

"We were so shaky in the last game, but today we had some confidence in the group," he said. "We are a young team, but we showed a lot of maturity today - it's good knowing we can play."

Newtown will next play Monday under the lights at Pomperaug High School, a team that always seem to give the Nighthawks a good game.