Newton boys down Indianola in weather-shortened match

INDIANOLA — A strong first half propelled the Newton boys soccer team past Indianola on Tuesday night.

The Class 3A No. 10 Cardinals grabbed a lead six minutes into the match and never looked back during a 3-0 road win over the Indians.

Christian Lawson scored twice in the contest and is now the school’s all-time leader in career goals.

“We talked about weather being an issue so it was even more important to start on time,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “We needed this win. It’s an important victory for our playoff seeding.”

The match was suspended at halftime due to lightning in the area. Indianola protested the result becoming final because the match reached halftime, but the Iowa High School Athletic Association determined Newton the official winner on Wednesday night.

Jacob Sweeney scored his seventh goal of the season in the 6th minute to put Newton in front for good. Caleb Mattes delivered his fourth assist on the goal.

Lawson made it 2-0 in the 9th minute off an assist from Landon Menninga and then tallied a second goal in the 32nd minute to finalize the scoring. Nate Lampe registered the final assist and now has 23 for the season, which ranks third in the state and first in 3A.

Lawson’s 15 goals this season rank second in 3A and he now stands alone on the Cardinals’ all-time goal scoring list with 50.

The previous record of 48 was set by Josh Ventling from 2014-17.

“It’s even more impressive because he played outside back defender as a freshman,” Jensen said. “He has a powerful shot. A lot of players just don’t want to be in front of it when it comes at them.

“To be in the record books during the most successful stretch of Newton Cardinal soccer is something special.”

Hunter Teague made two saves in his 40 minutes in goal. The Cardinals took 13 shots and put seven of them on goal.

Newton (10-3, 3-2 in the conference) improved to 6-1 against Indianola (4-11, 2-3) since 2017. That stretch includes four shutouts and the Cardinals have won four in a row.