Doland’s hat trick leads Newton girls past Oskaloosa

Cailyn Doland came into the Cardinals’ matchup with Oskaloosa with two goals in the team’s first eight matches this season.

But her first career hat trick propelled the Newton girls soccer team to a shutout win over the Indians on Tuesday.

The Cardinals jumped on Oskaloosa with a pair of goals in the first 15 minutes and cruised to the 7-0 home win during Little Hawkeye Conference action at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“It feels good, but I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates,” Doland said about her hat trick. “A seven-goal night feels great, too.”

The match was part of a varsity doubleheader against the Indians. Both Cardinal programs celebrated 30 years of high school soccer at Newton by recognizing several alumni in between matches.

Newton improved to 11-1 against Oskaloosa since 2013. The Cardinals defeated the Indians 7-0 for the second straight year and posted their fourth straight shutout in the series.

It was a dominating effort on both sides of the pitch as Newton had 20 shots to Oskaloosa’s three. Only two of those Indian attempts were put on goal.

“We always talk about coming out strong in the first few minutes of the game, and I thought they did a really good job doing that,” Newton head girls soccer coach Susan Altemeier said. “We communicated well tonight. We are still working on passing, but I think it’s coming around.”

The Cardinals (7-2, 1-1 in the conference) led 5-0 at halftime.

Payton Carkhuff opened the scoring in the 8th minute when she converted a penalty kick that was set up by a hand ball in the box by Oskaloosa. It was Carkhuff’s fourth goal of the season.

Aliviah Ross put in her team-best eighth goal in the 15th minute. She scored against an open net off a deflection after the ball got away from Oskaloosa goalie Callie Walters.

All three of Doland’s goals came in the final 16 minutes of the first half. The first and last were scored in similar ways. She got loose up the field after a pair of through balls and booted it past the keeper.

Doland sent the ball to the opposite side of the post from 20 yards out to make it 3-0 in the 24th minute. Ross set up Doland’s third goal in the 30th minute.

Her second goal came on another penalty kick. This one also occurred after an Oskaloosa hand ball in the box.

Doland’s fifth goal of the season is a career most.

“It’s very important to get that early lead,” Doland said. “It’s easy to get down on yourself if the other team scores first. The five goals in the first half was good. We felt good at halftime.

“I think the offense is coming along pretty well. We are working harder and harder with our triangles. We’ve seen a huge improvement from last year.”

The big advantage at halftime allowed Altemeier to get most of her varsity players into the match.

It also led to a pair of reserves registering their first career varsity goals.

Gabbie Humphrey made it 6-0 with a goal in the 63rd minute.

Kaylee Guthrie found herself open on the back side of the play when she scored in the 76th minute.

“What was nice about tonight is that we were able to get a lot of girls extra opportunities to play,” Altemeier said. “We had a few reserves score tonight, too, so that will only help us moving forward.

“The new formation allows the defensive players to be in the offensive zone more and that benefited some of our players tonight.”

Natalee Freese played the entire first half in goal and made one save. She also saw action on the field in the second half, while Zoey Dodd took over in goal. Dodd also made one save.

The win by Newton was its fifth straight. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 15-1 during that stretch.

“The offense is coming along. The girls are understanding why it’s important to stay in formation,” Altemeier said. “We’ll keep working on it, but it is improving. The kids are practicing hard and are picking it up. You can see it out there.”

It was the fifth straight loss for Oskaloosa, which fell to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

The Indians have scored just two goals during that stretch and have three goals total this season.