Fast start pushes Newton boys past Eagles in LHC opener

After scoring in the 2nd minute of its Little Hawkeye Conference match against Pella Christian on Tuesday, it appeared the Cardinals might be in for a big night offensively.

The Newton boys’ soccer team followed up its first goal with another score 20 minutes later, but that’s all the Cardinals could muster during a  2-1 home victory over the Eagles at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“Overall, it’s a conference win,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “We are 1-0 in the conference, but we still have a long ways to go.”

It was another contest in which Newton dominated the pace of play and took way more shots than its opponent. The Cardinals had a 9-2 shot advantage in the first half and then tallied a 16-5 surplus in the final 40 minutes.

The only two goals of the match for Newton though came in the first 21:30.

“We had four or five chances in the first half to put the ball in the back of the net, but we just didn’t place them again,” Jensen said. “We went for power when all we needed to do was direct the ball to either side.”

Newton (3-2 overall, 1-0 in the LHC) got out to a quick start in the first half when Conner McPartlin converted a shot on goal. The assist came from Christian Lawson and McPartlin tapped the ball in off a deflection.

The next goal came from Caleb Mattes. He put a header past the keeper following a long throw-in by Nate Lampe in the 22nd minute.

“He’s an aggressive guy. He’s taller and gets in on our set pieces,” Jensen said. “We put him in the box whenever we can. He’s a big leader in the back and we need that to continue.”

Mattes is in a new role this season. Despite playing mostly at the defensive end of the field, he leads the team in scoring with three goals. The assist from Lampe was his state-most sixth helper of the spring.

“I’m just being aggressive when I can,” Mattes said. “Whenever we score first, it gives us a lot of momentum.

“The defense is playing pretty well. We could talk more and there are things we can do better, but it was a good game for us overall.”

The only goal the Newton defense gave up came in the 39th minute. The Eagles (1-1, 0-1) scored directly off a corner kick, but the Cardinals did have a few reserves in the game at the time of the goal.

Cardinal keeper Hunter Teague made three saves in his 80 minutes in goal.

“We are struggling with communication issues. I like our back line, but we need to communicate and do a better job picking up the runs,” Jensen said. “That’s a newer group and they are molding together.

“The goal they scored was when we had a few inexperienced guys in there. That’s all right. Those guys have to learn, too.”

The Cardinals took 23 shots and nine of them were on goal. McPartlin’s goal was his second of the season and Lawson delivered his fourth assist.

Notes: The start time for the match was moved up a half hour to beat the impending forecasted severe weather. “Hats off to our administration. We are the only soccer games in the state tonight,” Jensen said. “We’re in a society today where we let people out of things too easily or cancel too early. I appreciate Rump and our administration for letting us play this conference game so we don’t have to reschedule it.” … While Lampe leads the state with his six assists, Lawson’s four assists currently rank tied for third.