Lawson’s late goal helps Newton boys survive Indianola

Not much went wrong for the Newton boys’ soccer team in the first half during its Little Hawkeye Conference matchup with Indianola on Monday.

But as well as the first half went, the final 12 minutes couldn’t have gone much worse.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Christian Lawson sent the visiting team home with a 4-3 loss at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Newton led 3-0 at halftime but needed Lawson’s goal in the final 1:17 to pull out the conference win.

“We got off on the gas pedal in the right way,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “About the last 20-25 minutes of the match, I think we played like we thought we had it in the bag and we sold out at times.

“We obviously didn’t have the game in the bag, but the soccer Gods helped us out there in the end.”

Newton held a 17-2 advantage in shots and had a 10-0 surplus in shots on goal in the first half.

The Cardinals got on the board in the 9th minute when Nate Lampe’s long throw-in was knocked in by an Indianola defender.

Lampe’s impressive throw-in struck again 12 minutes later. This time, Lawson was waiting at the other end and his header pushed the margin to 2-0.

“Nate’s throws are impressive. We are lucky to have him,” Newton junior Conner McPartlin said. “We have struggled to score the past few games, but we are starting to figure it out a little bit.

“We treat those throw-ins like corners. And the more chances (Lampe) gets to throw it in, the more chances we have to score and that’s what we like.”

Lampe’s two assists improve his season total to 15, which ranks third in Class 3A. His 29 points also rank tied for 14th.

“We rely on those throw-ins quite a bit,” Jensen said. “They are dangerous, and we believe if we can get a goal a game off those we’ll be in every game.”

Newton has used a different formation to open games in recent outings. The Cardinals used defender Caleb Mattes as an extra scorer and that advantage helped Newton get in front early.

“We’ve changed our formation in the first five to 10 minutes,” Jensen said. “It’s more of a pressing, energy shape to try to get an early one. I feel like we got a lot of throw-ins in the deep area. That’s what we want.”

Newton (9-5 overall, 4-2 in the conference) extended its lead to 3-0 when McPartlin put his shot on goal past the Indians keeper. An assist off Mattes’ header set up the goal.

It was McPartlin’s fifth goal of the spring and Mattes’ fifth assist.

Indianola flipped the script in the second half. The Indians (4-10, 3-2) got on the board in the 50th minute when Jacob Chickering got to a through ball and beat Newton goalie Hunter Teague in a one-on-one situation.

Aiden Keller finished with one goal and one assist for the Indians. His goal made it 3-2 in the 69th minute and Sam Alexander’s game-tying goal in the 76th minute was just out of the reach of Teague.

“We had a few mistakes we can definitely clean up,” McPartlin said. “And the mistakes carried over into the second half, which helped them come back.

“We played blind balls to the middle. I was one of those guys who maybe played the ball too slow and wasn’t smart with it. We need to have a purpose with our passes.”

In a match that seemed destined for overtime, the Cardinals avoided the extra session when Lawson scored his second goal of the night in the 79th minute.

“We really didn’t want to go to overtime,” said McPartlin, who had the assist on the game-winning goal. “It was all gas and no brakes. We got lucky with what we had and put one in the back of the net.”

Lawson’s team-best 31 points rank tied for 10th in 3A and his team-high 11 goals is tied for 12th.

Indianola had a 12-8 advantage in shots and a 7-4 surplus in shots on goal in the second half.

The Cardinals took 24 shots in the win and put 15 of them on goal. Teague finished with nine saves. He now has 110 saves this spring, which ranks fifth in 3A.

“The resiliency is there, but we have to go back to the tape and see what’s going on there and see where the breakdowns were,” Jensen said. “I never thought we’d lose the game even after they tied it. It was scary at times though.”

Newton has now allowed 17 goals in its past five matches. The win snapped the Cardinals’ two-match skid and extended Indianola’s losing streak to four.

“We are still bleeding too many goals,” Jensen said. “I would rather win 1-0 than 4-3. I’m a defensive guy. I think it’s communication errors. We’ll look at the tape and figure it out.”