Tomahawks rally, end Nighthawks’ season
NEWTOWN — The “rebuilding” boys lacrosse team needed a comeback against the injury- ravaged team full of freshmen.
They might have been unlikely CIAC Class L quarterfinalists, but they put on a show at Blue and Gold Stadium. Glastonbury came back from three goals down in the first half and two down with 6: 14 left to beat Newtown 9- 8 in overtime.
“Everyone said this was going to be our rebuilding year,” said Glastonbury junior attackman Justin Hazard, who set up Nolan Flood for the winner. “But we’re back there again.”
The seventh- seeded Tomahawks will meet sixthseeded Ridgefield in Wednesday’s semifinals at a site and time to be announced. Both teams are 14- 5. Glastonbury beat Ridgefield 14- 9 to reach the semifinals; the Tomahawks also got there in 2015.
They made state finals in 2002 and 2003 in the old Division I format but haven’t returned since.
“We’d like to keep going a couple more,” Glastonbury coach Scott Hinchey said. “We’re proud of the guys. Every year, we know we’re capable of doing it.
“We lost some great players last year, but this team was challenged to live up to what they’re doing and make their own story.”
Second- seeded Newtown ( 16- 5) had six freshmen contributing, with Jake Dandrea making key saves in net, Jeff Garrity scoring a go- ahead goal in the fourth quarter, Shaine Luzietti helping the Nighthawks run a zone that forced Glastonbury to be patient with the ball.
“I thought for most of the game our defense played really well. Maybe we got a little tired at the end, I don’t know, but they made plays,” Newtown coach Scott Bulkley said. “We had the opportunities to win this game, and we didn’t capitalize.”
Newtown had leads of 4- 1, 7- 5 and 8- 7. Kevin Tierney tied it with 2: 00 left and hit the outside of the right post late in regulation.
Glastonbury had the ball to start overtime, but Tucker Garrity forced a turnover. After a time out, Glastonbury goalie Garrett Gagnon stopped Aiden Coleman.
The Tomahawks went the other way and set up. Hazard backed up behind the net and found Flood cutting right to left to end it with 50.7 seconds remaining in the four- minute overtime period.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Justin Hazard had two goals and four assists for Glastonbury.
ZONED OUT
The Nighthawks played mostly man- to- man when Newtown beat Glastonbury 10- 7 on April 28. The Nighthawks came out in a zone defense Saturday.
“Patient in general, that was definitely part of the plan today against the explosiveness Newtown has,” Hinchey said. “Fortunately, they went to zone, which allowed us to be patient.”
The coach said his team wasn’t shooting well early and cut down on turnovers later, and he credited Carson Mascheck and Gino Nuzzolo in transition.
FRESH FACES
Bulkley credited both the Newtown freshmen who filled holes and the seniors who welcomed them into those key roles.
“A lot of teams would be like, ‘ OK, we lost all these guys. Our season’s over.’ They never did that. They stepped up every time and kept working hard.”
FLOOD ( HAZARD)
Two brief deluges before the game soaked the field, fans and media. The weather had mostly cleared up by game time, 1 p. m., though sprinkles in the fourth quarter brought out umbrellas in the crowd.
QUOTABLE
“The big thing was moving the ball, moving it quickly. Big- time players make big- time plays. We were relentless the whole game. That’s our motto.” — Hazard