Newton boys dish out loss to Dutch

Making the most of their final regular-season game at home, Newton High’s Cardinal boys handled the visiting Pella Dutch in Little Hawkeye Conference soccer action Tuesday.

On Senior Night, the Cardinals notched their sixth shutout of the season, defeating the Dutch, 3-0. It came after the team honored its seven seniors and their parents before the varsity contest.

“This was a special victory for the boys on Senior Night. Every player was excited for this game, especially the seniors,” Newton head coach Sackda Viravong said.

Newton senior forward Nick Rusk made a pass to sophomore forward Zach Combs for the first goal of the night. It came at the 31:08 mark of the first half.

Combs’ goal held up for a 1-0 halftime lead for Newton. One reason was a big save by senior goalkeeper Griffin Engel in the first half. Engel recorded three saves on the night to push his season total to 27 against two goals allowed.

“Griffin made a great save in the first half,” Viravong said. “He didn’t have many shots to defend in the second half.”

Coming out of the break, the Cardinals kept the pressure on the Dutch defense and goalkeeper Sam Warner. Duncan Lee, a senior forward, delivered a score off a well-placed ball by junior Josh Gulling to put Newton up 2-0 with 36 minutes left in the game.

Rusk had a run out against Pella and was going in on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper with 23 minutes on the clock. Warner tackled Rusk in the box resulting in a penalty kick

Following the official’s call, Warner was issued a red card and ejected from the game. Pella sent Jarod Robertson in to defend a penalty kick by Rusk. Rusk buried the ball in the net for a 3-0 margin for Newton.

“For the past few years, we came up short against Pella. So tonight, we were ready for the challenge and the boys delivered,” Viravong said.

The other seniors on the NHS team are forward Chet Adams, defender Dalton Nevels, midfielder Chase Dykstra and goalkeeper Grayson Bookbinder.

Rusk leads the Cardinals with 12 goals on the season followed by Lee with 10 goals. Newton had 10 shots on goal against Pella and four corner kick opportunities.

The Cardinals improved to 9-4 overall and 3-2 in LHC play. The Dutch fell to 7-8 and 1-4.

Newton finishes up the regular season with three road games starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Prairie City-Monroe. The Cardinals play their final conference game Tuesday against Class 2A top-ranked Norwalk.

Newton’s junior varsity beat Pella, 5-1 after leading 2-1 at halftime. The Cardinals’ first half goals were by Jacob Murphy and Tyler Stanton, who was credited with an assist on Murphy’s goal.

Newton got a goal by Logan Heisdorffer with an assist by Stanton and two goals from Austin Johansen in the second half. Ty Arguello and Murphy had assists.

In the freshman game it was a 2-2 tie. Each team scored for the other in the first half to make it 1-1 and down 2-1 in the second half, Newton’s Gavin Aalbers scored. It was the final game of the season for the NHS freshmen.

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