Rebels make it a 3-peat
Hart stands tall in net for New Fairfield, earns MVP
BROOKFIELD — They made their impact as sophomores, so much so that the season ended in the school’s first SWC title since 2010.
An undefeated season followed as juniors, which culminated in a Class M title.
With the games winding down on their remarkable careers, the Rebels somehow continue to raise their own high bar.
Led by the most heralded class in possibly the history of the school, the New Fairfield boys lacrosse team claimed their third straight SWC title in dominating fashion. The Rebels routed Weston 14-2 at Brookfield High Thursday to keep the run of championships going.
“These guys have done this for a long time,” New Fairfield coach Marty Morgan said. “Ten of the 16 have been playing together since third grade. For them to win three SWCs in a row, to be in the (state semifinals) three times before this
year … I’m psyched, I couldn’t be more proud.”
Senior goalie Brennan Hart was somehow left off all the All-SWC team, but put his stamp on the game in the second half. The Bryant-bound tournament MVP made all eight of his saves in the second half once the Trojans found their footing.
“Their goalie played out of his mind tonight; you try and chip away there but he made some awesome saves,” Weston coach Josh Thornton said. “I thought we just didn’t have the team prepared to play against that type of speed.”
The game was virtually over inside eight minutes as New Fairfield ran up a 6-0 advantage. Sophomore faceoff specialist Matt Constantinides was all but flawless at the X for the top seed.
“We got the ball rolling pretty quickly,” New Fairfield senior Liam Ford said. “Once we got to the second quarter the offense slowed down a little bit, but we got it together in the third and finished it off. It was a good win.”
The nine senior starters on the Rebels played their final conference game and obliterated the opposition. New Fairfield improved to 18-1 this season with its only defeat coming to national power St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) last month.
“We’ve gotten bigger, faster and stronger,” Hart said. “We do weight rooms in the offseason with (assistant coach Nick Alviti). …
we developed a lot mentally as a team. Losing to New Canaan sophomore year in the state semifinals was a big mental check for us and it made us come back hungry as ever … and we haven’t looked back.”
New Fairfield scored 20 goals in the first half in both their quarterfinal and semifinal wins. Ford scored five times for New Fairfield while Brett Tenaglia added four.
The Trojans made their first appearance in the final since 2016 by routing Newtown 13-4 in the semifinals.
“We have the athletes and the lacrosse players, we just have to not shoot ourselves in the foot, which we did a lot of tonight,” Thornton said. “We turned the ball over way too many times, forced and unforced.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Matt Constantinides, New Fairfield: A near perfect day at the X paved the way for the devastating attack.
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“I’m thankful to have won this three times in a row and we’re looking forward to winning a state championship,” Ford said. “I’ve been playing with these guys since preschool, I’m going to miss it so much going to college.”