March 29, 2024

Pella beats Newton boys

PELLA — Newton High’s boys went into their Little Hawkeye Conference soccer game Saturday short-handed. They weren’t able to come together to deal with a surging Pella Little Dutch squad.

The Little Dutch posted a 7-2 win over the visiting Cardinals for their third win in a row. The Cardinals fell to 9-6 overall and 2-4 in conference action while the Little Dutch improved to 3-3 in LHC play and 5-10 overall.

“We we’re missing about half of our varsity team and we had to use a few junior varsity players,” Newton head coach Zach Jensen said. “We got outworked and didn’t stay marked up, which basically was how we gave up our goals.”

Newton’s two goals were unassisted. Junior Zach Combs nailed a free kick for a goal and senior Justin Fischer converted a penalty kick opportunity. Newton had six shots on goal, six corner kick opportunities and 13 free kicks.

Jensen said the Cardinals had many chances to score but did not capitalize on them. He said Newton gifted most of Pella’s goals.

Ethan Poulter and Soren Stelter each scored three goals for the Little Dutch. Baily Hamilton had the other goal.

Newton senior goalkeeper Reagan Maple had three saves.

“We need to regroup for the last week of the regular season and play our last two games as tune-up games before substate play,” Jensen said. “We need to have a strong showing from the boys this week because I have very high expectations from them.”

The Cardinals wrap up Little Hawkeye Conference play in a 7 p.m. game on Thursday at Pella Christian. They host Nevada for a 7 p.m. game on Friday at H. A. Lynn Stadium to conclude the regular season.

Newton hosts a Class 2A Substate 2 doubleheader on May 22. Collins-Maxwell/Baxter plays South Tama at 5 p.m. and Newton plays CAL at 7 p.m. at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

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