Newton boys soccer wins third straight, cruises past Grinnell

Newton’s boys soccer team has played four matches this spring. In each one of those matches, a different Cardinal player has scored two goals.

Conner McPartlin was the latest to accomplish that feat on Tuesday as his two goals led the Cardinals to a 5-0 home win over Grinnell at a chilly and windy H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Newton led the Little Hawkeye Conference opener 2-0 at halftime. The Cardinals have won three in a row after dropping their season opener. They have outscored their opponents 14-1 in those three wins.

“I am happy we are scoring goals, but like any coach, there’s always something we can do better,” Newton boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “I felt like we could have been more clinical in front of the net and scored even more goals.”

The Cardinals lost twice to Grinnell last season. And felt like they were the better team in both matches. That served as motivation.

“I’m happy for the team and for our guys,” Jensen said. “I know the players who were on varsity last year were sour about losing twice to them. They really wanted this one and they really wanted to start fast in conference play.”

The Cardinals (3-1, 1-0 in the conference) took 34 shots and put 15 shots on goal against a Grinnell squad which was playing its first match of the spring.

McPartlin’s two goals led the way, but Hunter Kennedy added one goal and one assist, Nate Lampe and Caleb Mattes had one goal each and Derek Beiner delivered an assist.

Lampe now has a team-best four goals and Kennedy leads the team with six assists.

Kennedy’s six helpers is already a career-most and he currently ranks first in the state.

“He’s a high-IQ soccer player,” Jensen said. “He knows where to send through balls and where to set players up at.”

Caleb Lawson spent 55 minutes in goal for the Cardinals and had two saves. Hunter Teague was between the posts for 25 minutes and recorded two saves.

It was the second shutout of the season for Newton.

Six Cardinals have scored at least two goals this spring. That makes defending the Cardinals that much tougher for opposing defenses.

“We knew we had several guys who could score,” Jensen said. “We made some changes to our offense to score more goals. We might have even more threats than I thought, and it makes it harder for opposing teams to pinpoint where to put their defensive efforts.”