No. 10 Cardinals shut out Oskaloosa

Coming into the season, the Newton boys soccer team’s coaching staff was most worried about the defensive unit they were putting on the field.

The Cardinals had just one returning varsity player and three freshmen make up the rest of the starting unit.

But after six matches, the defense is quickly becoming a strength.

On Tuesday, the defense pitched a shutout against Oskaloosa as the Cardinals snapped a two-match skid during a 1-0 Little Hawkeye Conference win over the Indians at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“Our back four has been stellar. Three out of the four are freshmen,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “Going into the season, that was our biggest worry because we just didn’t know. But if you look at us now, that’s our strongest part of the field.”

The Class 2A No. 10 Cardinals are still battling injuries. Everyone returned to the lineup against Oskaloosa but a handful of players were still limited.

Despite that, Newton controlled the match throughout. It just had more issues finishing in the offensive third.

The Cardinals out-possessed and out-shot the Indians by a wide margin. But only had one goal to show for it.

“It’s been the story all year. We out-possess and outplay the other team. We play great soccer in the defensive and middle thirds. We just can’t get it done in the final third,” Jensen said. “We play great soccer and we build it. We just can’t finish it.”

Newton (3-3 overall, 1-1 in conference play) had a 22-6 advantage in shots and a 15-4 surplus in shots on goal. The Cardinals finally broke through in the 65th minute when Hunter Kennedy set up Darara Dawassa for the lone goal of the contest.

It was the first goal of the season for Dawassa and the first assist for Kennedy.

“We get it to the final third and we either don’t know what to do or we look like we are tired,” Jensen said. “We are lacking execution in the final third. That’s where we are struggling.”

At the other end, the Cardinals’ defense has been stellar behind the veteran leadership of Breyton Schwenker. It was the third shutout of the season for the defense and the unit has allowed just six goals in six matches.

“I gave everything I had to keep them scoreless,” Schwenker said. “(The freshmen) have been amazing. They are playing great. I couldn’t ask for a better group to play with.”

After losing two straight, it was important for Newton to get back on the winning track, especially against a conference opponent.

“If we didn’t win this game, then we could have been dropped out of the running for the conference title just like that,” Schwenker said. “We needed the win. We needed the points.”

Newton goalie Caleb Lawson had four saves in the contest. Two of those were diving stops — the first coming in the 34th minute and the second in the 59th minute.

Jensen said they changed their formation at halftime to provide more punch in the scoring zone, but Oskaloosa (0-3, 0-2) outplayed the Cardinals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

That forced the coaching staff to go back to the previous formation. It’s just simply going to come down to better execution on offense moving forward.

“We talked to them at halftime about how the longer it stays at 0-0, the more hope they have,” Jensen said. “They were forcing long balls and hoping for a counter attack. Fortunately, we kept the 1-0 lead.

“We battled it out. I am proud of the win. But we have work to do still.”

Notes: Derek Lanser returned from his injury to start on defense for Newton. Jensen wanted to ease him and Dawassa back from their injuries but they both started because Cody Klein and Derek Beiner arrived to the stadium just after kickoff because they ran a few events for the Newton track and field team in Ottumwa. … It was a physical contest throughout, but Josh Meyer was given the game’s only yellow card in the 59th minute.