April 23, 2025

Norwalk downs Newton boys in soccer opener

Cardinals can’t recover from slow start against Warriors

By Troy Hyde
Micah Mattes

Newton junior Micah Mattes (8) passes the ball to a teammate during a scrimmage earlier this season. The Cardinals opened their season with a road loss to Norwalk on Tuesday night. (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

NORWALK — The Newton boys soccer team graduated 16 seniors from  a Cardinal squad which reached a substate championship match last spring.

And Newton’s inexperienced 2025 group got a tough draw to open the season, and Norwalk handed the Cardinals a 6-0 loss in the season opener for both teams.

“We’re still learning about ourselves,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “The goal is to improve every day and be at our best in May when the postseason hits.”

Landon Bozarth

Newton senior Landon Bozarth keeps possession of the ball during a road scrimmage earlier this season. The Cardinals fell 6-0 to Norwalk in their season opener on Tuesday. (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

Norwalk, which reached the state semifinals last season, led 5-0 at halftime. Tavin Ferner scored four of the Warriors’ six goals in the win and Tyden Eng dished out two assists.

“We graduated 16 seniors,” Jensen said. “It’s not an excuse, but there will be growing pains, and our youth and inexperience showed up tonight.”

Javin Doland made his first career varsity start in goal and posted a career-best 16 saves for Newton (0-1).

Norwalk (1-0) had a 20-5 advantage in shots and a 16-1 surplus in shots on goal.

“We did see some good things and showed glimpses of good soccer,” Jensen said. “The fight was better. Kent Montgomery and David Wickett are two of our smallest guys on the field, but they were impressive from a physical standpoint. We need to be more physical, and we need to stick together and ignore the outside noise. We know we have a lot to work on.”