Newton girls soccer downs Grinnell, falls to Indianola

Newton’s girls soccer team came into Tuesday night’s home match with Indianola playing some of its best soccer of the season.

The Cardinals entered the game winners of three of their past four matches but couldn’t sustain the momentum against the Indians at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Indianola scored the winning goal in the 72nd minute to down Newton 2-1 during Little Hawkeye Conference action.

“Tonight we didn’t play our best soccer and it showed,” Newton girls soccer coach Abby Lamont said. “We have to show up every game ready to play and with intensity.”

Brynn Cazett scored her seventh goal of the season in the first half and keeper Aurora Nehring stopped nine shots in the contest but the Cardinals dropped to 7-7 on the season and 3-3 in conference play.

“We weren’t ready to play tonight but a few players had great games,” Lamont said. “Rori Nehring was outstanding in goal, Brynn Cazett ran the field and worked her tail off on the sideline and our center backs had some great stops in the backfield.”

It’s now the Indians who have won three of four. They improved to 6-5 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

Newton played even with Indianola in the first half as both teams had six shots on goal. The second half was controlled by the Indians though as they had an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Indianola led 1-0 following a goal in the 11th minute. Cazett’s seventh of the season was the equalizer a little more than 11 minutes later. The Indians’ winning goal came with exactly 8 minutes to play.

Newton 3, Grinnell 1

The Cardinals outscored visiting Grinnell 2-0 in the second half to pull away for a 3-1 win over the Tigers on Friday at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Nehring needed to make just two saves to get Newton the win as Cazett, Audrey Rausch and Morgan Peterson all scored goals for the Cardinals in the LHC matchup. Newton attempted 32 shots in the contest.

“Overall, our play was much cleaner in the second half,” Lamont said. “We controlled the majority of the game but allowed a few shots on goal that could have been prevented. Our transition through the midfield was excellent, which allowed for a better offensive attack.”

It was the 13th goal of the season for Rausch and the second for Peterson. Both Rausch and Peterson also had one assist each.

Grinnell (2-6, 0-4) has lost five straight. Leah Harris scored for the Tigers and keeper Olivia Renze made 25 saves.