It took a pair of second-half comebacks, a Joel Barlow shot clanking off the crossbar, and an overtime tally to give the Newtown High girls lacrosse team an 11-10 victory over the Falcons on Wednesday night.
Newtown’s Lu Hage scored the game-winner with 1:32 gone in overtime to lift the Nighthawks in a battle between two of the top South-West Conference teams. The goal was Hage’s third of the evening.
Barlow fell to 10-4 overall and 9-1 in conference play, while the Nighthawks improved to 9-5 overall and 9-1 in the conference.
The Falcons had a chance to win the game moments before Hage’s tally. But Julia Shapiro, who had three goals for Barlow, bounced a shot that caromed off the crossbar.
Newtown and Barlow were tied 4-4 at the half. The Falcons took the game’s first two-goal advantage when Becca Candee and Sarah Witherbee scored less than a minute apart early in the second half.
After the Nighthawks got within 6-5, Barlow scored the next two goals as Witherbee, on a shot from the left side, and Shapiro, with a rip on the run from the right side, gave the hosts an 8-5 lead less than nine minutes out of the break.
Newtown clawed back to tie the score, but the Falcons responded with goals by Shapiro and Cat Goncalves, both on free-position attempts, and it was 10-8 with 8:44 left.
The Nighthawks again came back to tie the game with 3:36 remaining on two goals by Hage, just 12 seconds apart.
“They put a lot of pressure on us. We made a few mistakes, which you can’t do when you’re leading by a few goals. Give them credit; they didn’t lay back and just let us run out time,” said Barlow coach Steve Coppock about Newtown.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Coppock said he was pleased with the effort of his players.
“I think we did a lot of things well tonight,” said Coppock, adding that the defense did a nice job in keeping Newtown standout Alex Futterman scoreless.
Coppock pointed to the play of defenders Kacey Hartmann, Molly Carroll, Erin Carroll, and Ava DiZenzo, along with the efforts of midfielder Lucy Witherbee and goaltender Brooke Squitieri, who made five stops.
“She had a bunch of saves that kept us in the game,” said Coppock about Squitieri.
In addition to Shapiro’s three goals, Goncalves, Bella Miceli and Sarah Witherbee added two goals apiece for Barlow and Candee had one goal.
Shapiro had two assists, and Hannah Tunick added one assist.
Hartmann and Erin Carroll had four and three ground ball scoops, respectively, for the Falcons.