Cardinal girls win home soccer tournament

Brooklyn Cupples has been through a whole heck of a lot the past 12 months.

Torn ACL. Fractured foot. Pulled quad.

Those are all the injuries Cupples is either recovering from or playing through right now.

The pain may have felt a whole lot better on Saturday though after Cupples’ hat trick led the Cardinals to a 10-0 win over Perry in the opening match of the team’s home tournament at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Cupples added a goal and an assist in Newton’s 7-0 victory over Benton Community in the tournament finale.

“I fractured my foot at the end of basketball while recovering from my knee injury,” Cupples said. “Now I have a pulled quad with muscle spasms.

“My knee doesn’t hurt at all, but the quad injury comes and goes. The more I rest it the better it gets.”

Cupples is playing through her list of injuries. The torn ACL suffered last April 30 came against Perry. She was more than happy to score three goals in the win over the Jayettes on Saturday.

“I almost started crying (after scoring the first goal). It just hit me that I’m actually back playing,” Cupples said. “Scoring my first goal of the season against the team that took me out last year, I have come full circle. It felt really good.”

Newton’s dominant run through its home tournament came a few days after the team lost for the first time this spring.

Cupples said the loss actually helped the team because it was able to figure out where the holes are and what needs to be fixed for the rest of the season.

The Cardinals (7-1) led Perry 6-0 at halftime. The match ended on a Cupples goal with 15:24 left in the second half. All four tournament games had 30-minute halves.

Newton’s leading goal scorer, Audrey Rausch, scored twice in the first 11 minutes and Cupples made 3-0 in the 19th minute.

“Brooklyn Cupples has had an extremely long road to recovery and to see her have success made our team and coaching staff overjoyed,” Newton girls head soccer coach Abby Lamont said. “Her road to recovery hasn’t been an easy one, but she has never wavered in her determination and drive to get back on the field.”

The home team scored three goals in the final 4:23 of the first half. Brynn Cazett scored the first and third goals during that stretch. The first tally came off a corner kick by Rausch and the second made it 6-0 with 40 seconds left in the half.

Another Rausch corner kick led to the other goal. A perfectly placed ball just in the front of the net was scored on a header by Morgan Peterson in the 29th minute.

The Cardinals needed just 15 minutes to score four times in the second half.

Riley Plowman scored the first goal in the first minute and Cupples made it 8-0 with her second tally in the 34th minute.

Peterson put in her second goal nearly 3 minutes later and Cupples ended the match early due to the mercy rule in the 44th minute.

Both of Peterson’s goals were scored after corner kicks. The second one came off a deflection she tapped in after a near own goal went off the crossbar.

Newton held a 34-0 advantage in shots against Perry (1-7) and had a 7-0 surplus in corner kicks. Cupples and Rausch each had an assist in the win.

“Our passing and possession of the game went very well,” Lamont said. “We stuck to our game plan, and the girls really played well.”

Rori Nehring was in goal for all 45 minutes and played goalie for all 60 minutes against Benton (2-5) and registered two saves.

Nehring and the Cardinal defense now has six shutouts this spring.

“We came back stronger today, controlled the middle and passed on the outside,” Cupples said. “We were able to fix some things we learned after the loss.”

Newton led 3-0 at halftime against the Bobcats. The Cardinals scored their seven goals on 15 shots.

“Our goal was to play our pace and it took us a few minutes to find it, but the girls had some great passing and connection,” Lamont said. “Taylor Maki did a great job feeding the ball up the side and playing through balls.

“Brynn Cazett, Madi Altemeier and Morgan Peterson did an excellent job controlling the middle. Our freshman defenders, Alex Garvis and Delaney Woollums, have done an excellent job stepping up to the challenge.”

Rausch put in four goals against Benton and now has 24 goals and 53 points this season, which both lead all of Iowa.

Cazett tallied two goals and one assist. Her 10 goals rank in the top 20 in the state and her eight assists is currently tied for second.

The other goal was put in by Cupples and she added an assist. Taylor Maki also registered an assist.

“It’s important to have others step up and score goals too so the focus for the defense isn’t just on one player,” Cupples said. “Having just one attacker and one threat isn’t too valuable for the team. Having other options will only make us better, and it will help the defense play stronger, too.”

Des Moines Christian 3, Newton 0

URBANDALE — The Class 1A No. 3 Lions handed Newton its first loss of the season on Thursday night.

Des Moines Christian led 2-0 at halftime and then added one more in the second half to win 3-0 at home.

Nehring registered 22 saves for the Cardinals, who took just two shots in the match.

Isabel Garcia, Sami Webster and Gianna Bennett all scored goals for the Lions, who improved to 5-1. Kaitlyn Mumm had one assist.