Newton boys open postseason with easy win over Central Iowa United

Newton’s boys soccer team didn’t allow a goal in 113 minutes of game time against Central Iowa United this season.

The latest meeting felt much better for the Cardinals and head coach Zach Jensen though.

Newton advanced to the substate semifinals on Thursday following a 10-0 home win over CIU at H.A. Lynn Stadium. The match ended in the 54th minute due to the mercy rule.

“We responded to getting our butts kicked the other night,” Jensen said. “I didn’t expect it to go quite like it went, but we were happy with how we played and happy we get to advance.”

The second-seeded Cardinals next face sixth-seeded North Polk in the Class 2A Substate 7 semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Monday in Newton.

The Comets (4-10) upset third-seeded Carlisle on the same field earlier in the night.

Christian Lawson registered a hat trick in the win over Central Iowa United, which is made of players from Baxter, Colfax-Mingo, West Marshall, Collins-Maxwell and Colo-NESCO.

Bryar Annee scored two goals, Hunter Kennedy set a new school record with five assists and Derek Beiner and Nate Lampe each had one goal and one assist.

The Cardinals (11-6) led 6-0 at halftime. Lawson scored the first goal of the night with the assist coming from Kennedy. Three of Kennedy’s five assists came in the first half.

Six different players scored in the first half and seven scored overall. After Lawson’s goal in the 6th minute, Annee got on the board with a tally in the 14th minute.

Cody Klein and Beiner scored goals 30 seconds a part in the 22nd minute that put Newton in front 4-0. Lampe and Ryan Nook added goals later in the half. It was Nook’s first career varsity goal.

Klein and Beiner had busy nights. Before playing in the soccer match, they helped Newton finish third in the 4x800 relay at the state track and field meet in Des Moines.

“It’s been tough on them,” Jensen said. “It takes a toll with school work and getting ready for his future after high school in Derek’s case. But they are team guys and the type of guys who can handle it.”

Annee scored 37 seconds into the second half to make it 7-0 and then Lawson’s next two goals came around five minutes a part.

Jacob Sweeney ended the match early with his first career goal in the 54th minute.

Nook added an assist in the win, while Joel Lewis and Landon Bozarth recorded first-half helpers.

This year’s Newton team has re-written the record books. The Cardinals set new school records for goals (67) and assists (61) in a season, passing the 2018 and 2015 teams, respectively, in those categories.

Kennedy owns all three assist records for the Cardinals. The five assists he had Thursday is the most for a single game and he also has the most assists for a season with 28 and the most assists for a career with 33.

Newton took 53 shots and 32 shots on goal. Caleb Lawson recorded four saves and Hunter Teague stopped one shot.

“We were happy to get all 24 players into the game and happy to get our regulars lots of rest,” Jensen said.

Lawson is school record holder in several goalie categories. His 24 saves in a game earlier in his career is the single-game record and he owns the career saves record with 271.

Four players — Christian Lawson (14), Beiner (13), Annee (12) and Lampe (11) — have at least 11 goals this spring. Beiner has a team-best 35 points, while Kennedy (34), Lawson (32), Annee (30) and Lampe (28) have 28 or more.