March 29, 2024

Newton girls snap skid, cruise past Centerville on Senior Night

Cardinals overcome slow start to down Big Reds at home

During her freshmen season, Morgan Peterson said the Cardinal coaching staff asked the team who is willing to take any ball off their head.

Not many players raised their hand, according to Peterson. But the now-senior was all in.

And on Monday, Peterson used her head to score the game’s first goal late in the first half. It opened up the flood gates for Newton to pull away for a 5-0 victory at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“I’m kind of just the header person now. It’s not set up specifically for me, but I’m willing to get my head on it,” Peterson said. “It felt good. I was pushing up a lot more this game because we had more opportunities. I usually don’t get as many opportunities playing defensive mid.”

Peterson’s header came directly off a corner kick and it came in the 38th minute. Newton led 1-0 at halftime.

Peterson was one of seven players recognized for Senior Night after the game. The varsity match was played first.

Peterson, who will play soccer next year at Central College, scored the first goal of the second half, too. She buried the ball into the back of the net from 25 yards out in the 44th minute.

“The wind was a huge factor in the first half. We had the wind at our backs in the second half,” Peterson said. “We were really sloppy and it was really hot. We just aren’t used to that kind of heat yet. We were tired and sloppy. We eventually cleaned it up.”

It was the fourth and fifth goals of the season for Peterson, who scored her two goals on two shots.

Audrey Rausch scored the Cardinals’ next two goals. She made it 3-0 with a goal from 10 yards out in the 51st minute. A 25-yard shot got past the Centerville keeper three minutes later to make it 4-0.

The final goal of the contest came in the 70th minute. Brynn Cazett registered the goal and she added an assist in the match. She now has 11 goals and 11 assists this spring.

“The first half was frustrating because we didn’t play as well as we wanted to,” Cazett said. “That brought its own emotions with it. It’s our last home game. We wanted to play well.”

Rausch tallied one assist in the win, too. She sits at 27 goals and 61 points this spring, which ranks tied for 11th and tied for 12th, respectively, in Class 2A.

The Cardinals (9-4) took 23 shots and had 20 shots on goal. Rori Nehring finished with four saves.

The seven seniors recognized after the match included Peterson, Cazett, Nehring, Madison Altemeier, Brooklyn Cupples, Juliana Richardson and Morgan Stalzer.

Neither Peterson nor Cazett has yet to think about their high school careers being over. Both of them knew how important it was to get a win against Centerville (8-6).

“It was really important just to get a win,” Cazett said. “We had lost three straight so we needed a win to get back on track. We were able to pull it off.”

Newton 2, Indianola 1

INDIANOLA — The Cardinals got back into the conference win column with a 2-1 road triumph over Indianola during Little Hawkeye Conference action on Tuesday.

The game was scoreless at halftime, but Rausch and Altemeier scored second-half goals to propel the Cardinals to the win.

It was the second goal of the season for Altemeier. Taylor Maki dished out her fifth assist of the spring.

Newton (3-2 in conference play) took 10 shots and nine shots on goal. Nehring stopped 10 shots and now has 93 saves as the Cardinals primary goalkeeper.

The Indians fell to 4-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.