Newton boys get first win, rally past visiting Grinnell

The dreaded 9 a.m. start time almost got the Newton boys soccer team.

The Cardinals hosted Grinnell for a rare Saturday morning contest at H.A. Lynn Stadium and fell behind early but rallied past the Tigers with a strong final 50 minutes during a 2-1 non-conference victory.

It was the first win of the season for Newton, and the Cardinals posted their fourth straight victory over the Tigers.

“The program really needed this win. And we needed to learn how to win and preserve a lead,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “I thought we would need three goals to win, but we were fortunate to keep the lead the entire second half. We’re still trending in the right direction.”

Grinnell scored first in the match when Jack Hoopes converted a penalty kick in the 25th minute.

The Cardinals got on the board less than four minutes later when Troy Ramsey scored his second goal of the season off a nice assist from Landon Bozarth, who now has a team-best four helpers this spring.

But Grinnell (2-1-1) controlled the first half. The Tigers had a 16-9 advantage in shots and a 7-2 surplus in shots on goal.

The Cardinals put one of their two shots on goal past the Grinnell keeper and were fortunate to be tied at halftime.

“There’s something about morning games that we just don’t show up for,” Jensen said. “We didn’t show up until we got scored on in the first half. We have never been good in a morning game in all my nine years here. We were fortunate to be tied at halftime.

“(Doland) made some key saves. We were under pressure a lot, and they played like they wanted it more.”

Doland made 12 saves in the contest and now has 72 for the season, which ranks third in the state and second in Class 3A.

His biggest stop of the match came with 2 minutes left in a 2-1 game. Grinnell had a 1-on-1 with the keeper after a nice individual effort, but Doland was up for the challenge.

The Cardinals also had some good fortune as one of the Tigers’ shots hit the crossbar with 24:37 to play.

Doland and the Newton defense allowed nearly 20 goals in the scrimmage against Des Moines North and the first two regular season matches but have since surrendered only six in the past four contests.

“Varsity is just different. It’s a higher intensity level, and I didn’t play too much last year to know what it was like,” Doland said. “It’s a different gear that I had to find. It was uncomfortable at the beginning of the season.

“We are starting to stick together, but I don’t think the intensity is quite there yet. We fought very hard for this one, but some of us still aren’t happy with how we played. We should get some confidence from it though.”

Newton is 12-5 against Grinnell since 2011. The Cardinals are outscoring the Tigers 18-2 during their current four-match winning streak.

The Cardinals were out-shot 25-21 in the game, and the Tigers had an 11-8 surplus in shots on goal.

Grinnell had a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks in the first half, but Newton (1-3-2) flipped it to a 5-2 surplus in the second 40 minutes.

Newton took the lead for good in the 46th minute. Parker Kennedy’s free kick just outside the keeper box went off the hands of the Grinnell keeper and fell backwards into the net. It was Kennedy’s second goal of the season.

“The win was so important,” Bozarth said. “It gets our confidence up and puts us in the win column. We’re progressing for sure, but I think we can still execute better. We should have had more goals today.”

Notes: Jensen liked what he saw from his team in the second half but still wants more physicality from certain players and seeks more shot attempts put on frame. “We did play better, but it wasn’t pretty,” Jensen said. “We got some pace up top but are still struggling with kicking the ball on frame. The defense is still working on our shape, and we are out of position sometimes. It’s getting better, and the back four have basically played all 80 minutes in every match so far. We’re happy, but we can still tweak some things.” … Henry Allen made his season debut after a late start to the season. He will dual sport with track and field, but Jensen liked his physicality. “We got Henry Allen in for the first time, and he showed some physicality,” Jensen said. “We’re happy about that.”