Newton boys soccer downs second-ranked Pella

Pella’s boys soccer team came into its road matchup with Newton undefeated with four shutouts. And the Little Dutch outscored their first eight opponents 23-6.

Newton turned those statistics upside down when it scored four goals in the first 31 minutes and the fast start led to the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over Class 2A No. 2 Pella on Tuesday at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“We let last year’s game slip away,” Newton boys head soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “We had them on their heels, and I made sure to remind the boys of that before this one.”

Jensen said the biggest factor in the win over the previously unbeaten Little Dutch was the conversation the squad had after losing two in a row last week.

The Cardinals’ win over Pella extends their victory streak to three matches, all of them coming after the heart-to-heart conversation between the players and coaching staff.

“It all goes back to the talk in the locker room we had after losing to Oskaloosa,” Jensen said. “Our motto since then has been strictly business. We’ve come right off the whistle as far as intensity goes.”

The Cardinals led 4-1 at halftime and held off Pella (8-1 overall, 2-1 in conference play) in the second half.

Four of the five Newton goals were assisted by Hunter Kennedy, who improved his season assist total to 16. That leads the entire state and is eight more than the second best producer in 2A.

Derek Beiner finished with two goals and one assist in the victory and now has seven goals and six assists on the season. His team-best 20 points is tied for 10th in 2A.

The Cardinals (6-3, 2-1) wasted no time to crack the scoreboard. Nate Lampe scored less than 2 minutes into the contest. Beiner recorded the assist after he centered the ball and Lampe blasted it past the Pella keeper after it deflected off a Dutch defender.

It was Lampe’s ninth goal of the season, which ranks eighth in 2A.

Beiner got the second goal after he ran down a through ball by Kennedy. Beiner used his speed to get behind the defense and put the ball into the net after a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper.

Newton made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute. This time, Cody Klein tapped in the ball after a Kennedy free kick bounced off the Pella goalie’s hands.

“Tonight was a fairy tale. It was a dream,” Jensen said. “The start was exactly what we needed, and it came against one of our biggest rivals.”

A perfectly placed corner kick by Kennedy went into the net after Caleb Mattes touched it with his chest. That came with 9 minutes left in the first half and made it 4-0.

The final goal of the match for Newton came with 16 minutes to go and Beiner once again converted his shot on goal off an assist from Kennedy.

The Cardinals took 27 shots and had 14 shots on goal. The five goals scored by Newton came from four different players.

“That was great to see,” Jensen said. “It makes us harder to scout when we have so many guys involved in our scoring.”

Newton starting goalie Caleb Lawson had seven saves in 70 minutes and Hunter Teague registered one save in 10 minutes.