Thirteenth-ranked Cardinals shut out Jayettes

Passing and possessing the ball well have led Newton High’s Cardinal girls to a 9-2 mark this season. Throwing in a stout defense and the Cardinals have posted eight shutouts.

Friday night at home, the Class 2A 13th-ranked Cardinals defeated Perry’s Jayettes, 8-0. Seven players scored goals for Newton and five players were credited with assists.

“The girls passed better than I’ve seen them pass tonight,” Newton head coach Abby Lamont said. “Their communication is really key to their success.”

Newton sophomore Ryanne Rausch added two more goals to her state-leading total. Rausch found the net twice in the contest against Perry to push her total to 26 goals. Courtney Powell, a sophomore from Union Community, had 22 goals going into a game Thursday night, and Burlington junior Elyse Huber had 21 goals.

“We did a lot of gives-and-goes and passed the ball well tonight,” said Macy Leonard, a senior. “Ryanne uses her speed to get out ahead and get the ball in the goal. Her teammates find her with strong passes on scoring opportunities.”

Megan Wright scored 22 goals for Newton in the 2011 season in 15 games. Amber Karsten had 21 goals for the Cardinals in 2014 in a 16-game season.

Newton broke onto the scoreboard when Rausch headed a ball into the net at the 30:35 mark of the first half. The Cardinals controlled the game from the kick off, putting 30 shots on goal.

Senior Anna Barr moved up on the backside of the action and was there to boot in the ball, after it ricocheted off the corner post. Barr’s goal came with 10:39 left in the first half.

Following two failed attempts to score, the Cardinals got the ball in when junior Hannah Rhoads, Rausch and sophomore Kaytlin Ahn combined for a scoring opportunity. Ahn’s kick settled into the net past Jayette goalkeeper, Amparo Menendez, to put Newton up 3-0 at the 7:52 mark.

Freshman Anna Forsyth got past two Perry defenders and delivered a scoring strike to the net at the 2:02 mark. Newton owned a 4-0 lead at halftime.

Going right to work to open the second half, the Cardinals finished an offensive attack with a pass from junior Taylor Moon to junior Victoria Jordan for the goal two minutes into the action. Rausch made it 6-0 on a goal at the 35.11 mark.

Sophomore Taylor Shipley’s goal 10 minutes later put the Cardinals in charge of a 7-0 lead. Lamont was rotating players in throughout the game. Leonard kicked int the final goal on the backside of the action with 11:03 left in the game.

“We had a lot of intentional and hard shots on goal tonight. We got to switch it up with people playing in different positions again tonight,” Lamont said. “It was a good team effort. We’re looking forward to getting ready for our conference game at Oskaloosa on Tuesday.”

Moon was credited with two assists on the night. Forsyth, Rausch, Rhoads and Jordan each had one assist.

Freshman Addy Blom was in goal for a second straight varsity game. She and five saves. Sophomore starting goalkeeper Ashlee Freese is out with illness, Lamont said.

Newton’s junior varsity won 3-0 against Perry. Morgan Mann and Carter Lee scored goals in the first half and Lee added a goal in the second half. Blom played in goal for the junior varsity game.

Newton travels to Oskaloosa in Little Hawkeye Conference action Tuesday. The Cardinals go into the conference match up at 0-2, losing to 2A No. 10 Grinnell and 2A No. 6 Dallas Center-Grimes. Pella is the fourth ranked team in the LHC at No. 7 in 2A.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com