Ballard girls rally past Newton soccer

Newton girls soccer coach Abby Lamont knows what her team is capable of. And not even a 3-2 home loss to Ballard on Thursday has changed her opinion.

The Cardinals scored first but couldn’t hold on as the Bombers held off a late Newton charge at a rainy and wet H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“We had some great connections tonight,” Lamont said. “We just couldn’t capitalize when we needed to. It was a great opportunity to see where our formation can be easily exploited and fix those weaknesses.”

Brynn Cazett put the Cardinals in the lead when she blasted a deflection past the keeper. The goal came on a free kick by Marin Pettigrew and the Ballard goalie stopped Cazett’s first attempt but couldn’t hang on to the ball.

The Bombers though countered quickly. They scored their first two goals 1:30 apart to go up 2-1.

The three first-half goals came during a 2:30 stretch from the 16th minute to the 18th minute.

Ballard (1-1) took a 3-1 lead in the 44th minute when Brooke Loewe scored her second goal of the night.

The Cardinals played better in the final 30 minutes and even closed the gap to one with 16:34 to play when Audrey Rausch sent a shot over the head of the Ballard goalie. That goal was assisted by Emma Lopez-Garcia.

Ballard out-shot Newton 9-5 in the first half and 18-15 in the match. The Bombers had a 7-3 shots on goal advantage in the first half but Newton won that category 6-2 in the second half. Ballard took twice as many corner kicks in the match.

Rausch nearly evened things up in the 69th minute when her shot attempt hit the right post and went out of bounds.

Pettigrew also sent a penalty kick over the crossbar with 7:36 to play.

Aurora Nehring finished with seven saves for the Cardinals as she played all 80 minutes at goalie.

“We’ll improve, we’ll re-focus and gain perspective for our upcoming games,” Lamont said. “This team knows what it is capable of and are willing to work hard to get there. I am confident they can make the changes and adjust.”