Riders edge Cards in shoot out for tourney title

Newton High’s Cardinals and Des Moines Roosevelt’s Roughriders played 100 minutes of soccer and still were tied 2-2 Saturday afternoon. It came down to a shoot out to determine the winner of the 2015 Newton Boys Soccer GGL Tournament sponsored by Garden Gate Landscaping.

It was 4-3 on penalty kicks when senior Grant Davidson stepped away from the goal and went in front of it to attempt Newton’s fourth kick. Davidson had preformed well in goal all day for the Cardinals, making 16 saves in two full games.

“Grant said he wanted to take one of the penalty kicks. He was confident in himself,” said Sackda Viravong, Newton head coach.

Davidson struck the ball cleanly, but Roosevelt goalkeeper Max Maharry was able to block the kick. Davidson stepped back in goal for the final Rider attempt and Matthew Holmes’ kick got past Davidson for the winning goal.

“It’s tough to lose a game like that. Even the best in the world miss penalty kicks,” Viravong said following the 3-2 loss.

Newton reached the title game with a 3-2 win over Benton. Roosevelt rolled to a 12-0 win against Prairie City-Monroe’s Mustangs. Benton defeated PCM, 14-1, in the consolation game.

Newton opened up the scoring in the championship game when a direct kick by Josh Ventling found the upper left corner of the goal from 15 yards out. The Cardinals went up 1-0 in the eighth minute of the game.

Davidson made three big saves to keep Newton in front. Roosevelt’s Brian James got the ball in the goal through a lot of traffic in the goal box to make it 1-1 with 15 minutes left in the first half.

The Riders struck again five minutes later. Oscar Orellana put a long kick over the heads of the Newton defenders and goalkeeper. Roosevelt held a 2-1 halftime lead and it stayed that way through the first 30 minutes of the second half.

Newton lined up for a direct kick. Senior Mike McCormick faked the direct kick and passed it off to senior Jackson Forck up top. Forck did exactly what Orellana did. His long kick went right over the heads of the Rider defenders and goalkeeper for the equalizing goal.

“That was a tough play and a nice goal. It was a clever play with good communication between Mike and Jackson,” Viravong said.

Davidson stopped a big shot on goal by Roosevelt with eight minutes left. The teams remained deadlocked at 2-all at the end of 40 minutes of regulation play.

“We talked about being patient with the ball. Overtime is sudden death, so it takes just one shot to end the game,” Viravong said. “We told the players to make sure to clear the ball out on defense and put pressure on Roosevelt. We had a couple of opportunities in the overtimes to score. Duncan Lee had a couple of shots.”

After two 10-minute extra periods, the teams went to the shoot out. McCormick, Ventling and Reese Rosenquist were successful on their penalty kicks for Newton.

Roosevelt had 15 shots on goal to nine for Newton. The Riders also had nine corner kicks while the Cardinals had two corner kicks.

“Roosevelt is a quality team, and it was obvious they had been playing together for awhile. They had good movement with the ball,” Viravong said. “Our guys never gave up and stuck with our game plan. We played our style of soccer, trying to control the ball and make good decisions. It was good to see how we were able to overcome our inexperience in playing as a team. We will get better as the season progresses.”

In the tournament’s opening game, Newton and Benton traded penalty kicks within a two-minute span. Ventling found the net at the 22:55 mark of the first half then Evan Moeller scored for Benton. It was 1-1 at halftime.

Ventling took a pass from Zach Combs and scored in the ninth minute of the second half. Two minutes later, the Cardinals got help from the Bobcats to go up 3-1. McCormick made a long throw-in, which went into the goal box and a Benton player knocked the ball into his own goal.

Moeller delivered on another penalty kick with 17:04 left in the game to make it 3-2.

“We had a lot more opportunities to score today and this was a better performance offensively for us than Thursday’s game,” Ventling said. “We just have to take our time and possess the ball and play simple as we move down the field. If we do that, we will create more chances on goal and win games.”

Newton put 12 shots on goal against Benton. The Bobcats and seven shots on goal. Benton was awarded six corner kicks and Newton had three.

“We made a couple of silly misstates in the goal box to give up the two PKs,” Davidson said of the Benton contest. “We held our own on defense like we did Thursday. Offensively, we played a lot better.”

Davidson was credited with four saves in the Benton game.

“We did a better job of pushing the ball up front. We’re struggling with transitioning to offense when we win the ball. We give it back to the other team too much and they can set up counter attacks,” Viravong said. “Grant played a solid game.”

Viravong said the Cardinals will focus on taking care of the ball better and having longer possessions to create space for plays to develop on offense. He said it was about managing the game better, especially with a lead.

Newton (2-1) plays at Pella Christian in Little Hawkeye Conference action Tuesday. The game is at 7 p.m.

Prairie City-Monroe’s Mustangs had a rough day on the field at H.A. Lynn Stadium Saturday. They found themselves down 3-0 to Roosevelt in the first 10 minutes of their tournament opener and it awe 5-0 at halftime. PCM lost to Roosevelt, 12-0.

Prairie City-Monroe’s Mustangs had a rough day on the field at H.A. Lynn Stadium Saturday. They found themselves down 3-0 to Roosevelt in the first 10 minutes of their tournament opener and it awe 5-0 at halftime. PCM lost to Roosevelt, 12-0.

The Mustangs also lost the services of Leevi Telfer, son of head coach Darrin Telfer. Leevi Telfer suffered a cut, which required five stitches, during a collision. Coach Telfer took the player to the hospital for treatment.

PCM assistant coach Zach Fagg coached the consolation game against Benton.

Benton quickly out to a 2-0 lead, scoring twice in the first minute of the game. Benton was up 4-0 when PCM’s Tony Merrill scored with 10 minutes left in the first half.

The Bobcats stretched their 7-1 halftime lead to a 14-1 victory.

“We need to work harder in practices on passing and improve our conditioning,” Fagg said following the games.

Mustang captain Nic Liro said he was proud of the way his teammates played.

“We were playing against teams from larger schools and we never game up whether we’re tired or they are killing us out there,” Liro said. “We always have fun no matter what’s going on or what the score is.”

Zac Van Waardhuizen played in goal for the Mustangs against Roosevelt and in the first half of the Benton game. Lane Raske and Graham Davis spent time as goalkeeper in the second half against Benton. Andreas Vargus was credited with an assist on the Merrill goal.

PCM (0-3) host Chariton Thursday. The junior varsity game is at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity at 7 p.m.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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