Pirates oust Cardinals from playoffs

HUDSON — In a little more than a 10-minute span of the first half, Newton High’s Cardinals found themselves down by three goals in Wednesday’s Iowa Class 2A Substate 2 semifinal soccer game. It was a tough uphill battle against a physical Hudson Pirate team.

It was a battle the Cardinals lost. It was 3-1 at halftime, but Newton wasn’t able to find the net again in the second half. The Pirates scored a final goal with 7.5 seconds left in the game to win 4-1.

“This was our second most aggressive game of the season. We held possession most the game. We just didn’t finish our scoring opportunities,” Newton senior Joe Stammeyer said.

Class 2A No. 11 Hudson (13-4) advances to the Substate championship game on Saturday. The Pirates play at No. 4 Iowa Falls-Alden (18-0) which beat South Tama 1-0 on Wednesday.

“Soccer is a cruel game. Sometimes the team that out possesses an opponent doesn’t win the game,” Newton head coach Zach Jensen said.

“We possessed the ball most of the game. We passed it around, worked it around the field, but couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities to score,” Jensen said.

Down 3-0, Newton fought to get a goal. On the attack, sophomore Ty Arguello dribbled the ball down the field then sent the ball into the middle of the field near the goal. Senior Tyler Stanton was in position to rip a shot to the back of the net.

Stanton’s goal came with 6:27 remaining in the first half. There was still plenty of time for the Cardinals to rally.

Jensen said the Cardinals corrected several things following a three-goal outburst by the Pirates. He said he didn’t feel the Cardinals made Hudson work for its goals early in the game.

Hudson’s Alec Stabell’s hat trick stood up at the end. He scored his first goal at the 28:55 mark of the first half with a ball in the box. He slipped another one past Newton senior goalkeeper Reagan Maple and the Cardinal defense with 16:59 on the clock. Four minutes later, Stabell scored again.

Newton owned the second half. Maple was credited with seven saves in the game. He made back-to-back saves right around the midway mark of the second half to keep Newton in the game.

“Finishing wasn’t our strength this season. We just didn’t finish the ball in games that mattered,” Jensen said. “Today, we had the a lot of good crosses into the box and shots at scoring, but didn’t the back of the net.”

Hudson’s Tristin Gilles scored late to give his team the 4-1 win. Hudson goalkeeper Matt Seres had eight saves in the game.

Stammeyer said he and his fellow seniors brought a lot of momentum to the team this season.

“I had an unique look because I didn’t start until my junior year, but we had a lot of returning seniors this season. We worked hard together with the younger players to have a solid season,” Stammeyer said. “The returning players for next year will step up big and I think they’ll have a good season.”

Stammeyer, Stanton, Maple, Justin Fischer, Josh Ventling, Logan Heisdorffer and Jordan Norvell played their final game for Newton.

“We’ll miss our seniors. They were the core of our team,” Jensen said. “For my first season as head coach here, these seven seniors were strong leaders for us. We came short of where we wanted to go, but I’m proud of each and every one of our guys.”

Newton finished 12-7 under the first-year head coach. Jensen said the team will focus on how to finish scoring opportunities for next year. He said Newton will be playing in a summer soccer league to help players develop skills against quality competition.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
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or jsheets@newtondailynews.com