Pomperaug field hockey defeats Barlow 2nd straight SWC tournament championship, 18th overall

Pomperaug field hockey celebrates winning the 2026 SWC championship game over Barlow at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury on Nov. 1, 2026. (Scott Ericson/Hearst Connecticut Media) DANBURY- There might just be some magic in the red plaid kilts the Pomperaug field hockey team only puts on for the playoffs.After an up-and-down regular season with a 7-6-0-3 record, which included a three-point loss to Barlow, Pomperaug again got hot in the postseason, making a run as the No. 4 seed and beating No. 3 Barlow 1-0 in the SWC championship game Sunday afternoon at Western Connecticut State University."I think tradition always wins and we have a good team culture that is built on 20 years of traditions," Pomperaug senior and tournament MVP Payton Pentino said. "These kilts are the original kilts that they wore when they won all these state championships and SWC championships and it's that team chemistry that allows us to go further."This was the 18th SWC championship for the Panthers and its second straight."It is the most amazing feeling ever," Pentino said. "We worked this entire season to prove everyone in the SWC wrong and it's an amazing feeling to win this championship alongside my teammates and my best friends."Pomperaug got a goal from sophomore Payton Barbarisi off a corner with 1:20 left in the first quarter and made that lead stand behind a strong defensive effort."We played more offensive minded the first three quarters and in the fourth quarter we arranged the defense a little bit," Pomperaug coach Anne Strobel said. "We went more defensive because, you only have to win by one."Barlow was trying to win its first title since 2015 but could not find the equalizer."(Pomperaug) was relentless and every time we touched the ball, they were on us," Barlow coach Nora Curley said. "My girls played hard, gave it everything they had and sometimes, it just doesn't work out in our favor."Barlow won a few corners in the game but could not convert as the Pomperaug defense kept turning the Falcons back.Player of the GamePayton Pentino, Pomperaug: The senior high midfielder helped control the ball in the center of the field all game for the Panthers.Quotable"I really think they started believing in themselves toward the end of the season. We lost to Barlow by quite a bit in the third game of the season. We had to change our mindset and get faster and faster all season. We only use (the kilts) in postseason and they bring a little special magic to them out on that field." – Pomperaug coach Anne StrobelPomperaug 1, Barlow 0BARLOW 0 0 0 0 - 0POMPERAUG 1 0 0 0 -1Scoring: P-Payton Barbarisi 1GGoalies: Quinn Watson 3 saves; B-Makayla Wanat 2 savesSign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at Pomperaug field hockey defeats Barlow 2nd straight SWC tournament championship, 18th overall.