Cardinals go 1-1 in home soccer tournament

Newton head girls soccer coach Abby Lamont said her coaching staff made a few tweaks and changes after a loss to Ballard earlier this season.

The Cardinals are still trying to make the pieces to the puzzle fit. And after going 1-1 at their home tournament on Saturday, Lamont said they are still searching for the right combinations on the pitch.

“The pieces are there. We just have to put them together correctly,” Lamont said. “We are tweaking things to figure out the best spots for everyone. We will continue to move players around until we find the right combinations.”

Newton rallied past Des Moines Lincoln in the Cardinals’ tournament opener and won 3-2. In the final match of the tournament, the Cardinals were defeated by Van Meter 3-0.

The Bulldogs (5-1) were stout defensively in the win, but Lamont knows her team can play better.

“I think we were tired, I think we needed to connect our passes, I think we needed more coverage in the middle and our defense needed to cut the line better,” Lamont said. “Their center backs were really good. We just couldn’t get it over them.”

The Cardinals (4-3) were significantly better than Lincoln in several categories, but couldn’t convert their opportunities into points.

Brynn Cazett scored her fourth goal of the season to put Newton in front 1-0 in the 14th minute.

Brissa Parra scored both of Lincoln’s goals. And each time, she scored with Newton goalie Aurora Nehring out of the box.

Parra’s first goal came in the 20th minute to force a 1-all tie at halftime. Parra put Lincoln in front 2-1 in the 43rd minute.

She was close to being offsides on both goals. Lamont said her team thought an offsides call was coming.

“I thought they both were offsides. Our defense and Aurora stopped because they thought it was offsides,” Lamont said. “But we talked about it and told them they have to keep playing and play to the whistle.”

Audrey Rausch helped rally the Cardinals past Lincoln with a pair of goals in the final 14 minutes.

Rausch’s first goal came off a corner kick by Marin Pettigrew and after a Morgan Peterson header in front of the goal was mishandled by Lincoln goalie Abigail Pfeifer.

Pettigrew set up the second Rausch goal, too. She centered the ball to the middle of the field and Pfeifer again couldn’t corral it. Rausch was there was for the rebound.

All three goals scored by Newton came off deflections as Cazett’s goal came after a Rausch shot.

“I think it’s important because it shows them that we can come back and win,” Lamont said. “And that we can fight back from being down. You have to have that grit and be able to come back.”

Newton dominated both halves. The Cardinals had a 13-3 advantage in shots, a 10-2 surplus in shots on goal and a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks in the first half.

In the second half, Newton out-shot Lincoln 14-3, had an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal and took all five corner kicks.

Lincoln nearly tied the match with 2:55 to play but its shot attempt was wide of the goal. Pfeifer also made a few big saves late to keep the Railsplitters within a goal.

Van Meter scored its first goal on Newton in the 7th minute. Mary Kelly headed a corner kick past Nehring in the 26th minute to put the Bulldogs in front 2-0.

Newton had a 9-3 advantage in shots in the second half but Charli Harkins’ goal with 22:33 to play put the game out of reach for the Cardinals. Van Meter also stopped a penalty kick by Newton in the final 5 minutes to keep the Cardinals scoreless.

“The girls are capable. The pieces are all there. We are just not connecting,” Lamont said. “We need to play better as a unit at the offensive end. We need to pass it more. It can’t be just one pass and let the forwards take it. We have to have three or four girls up there. We had opportunities, but we just couldn’t place it past the goalie.”

Notes: In the other two matches, Van Meter defeated Perry 4-1 and Lincoln edged Perry 4-3. … The Newton-Van Meter was very physical but only Emma Grimm got a yellow card late in the match. ... Rausch now has six goals on the season.