Newton boys extend long win streak against Boone

Sometimes preserving a lead in soccer can be as simple as out-working an opponent for a loose ball as the final seconds tick away.

That’s exactly what Connor Vest did late in the Newton boys soccer team’s home matchup with Boone on Friday night.

Vest ran down a loose ball and forced a throw-in in the final few minutes and those extra seconds coming off the clock helped the Cardinals secure a 2-1 victory over the Toreadors in a non-conference contest at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“I’m surprised I didn’t have a heart attack to be honest. My heart is hurting after that one,” Newton head boys soccer coach Zach Jensen said. “It wasn’t a pretty game at all. What I’m proud of is that we learned to preserve a lead, dug deep when we had to defend late and had a guy like Connor Vest win a late throw-in with the clock in our favor. He sprints over there and put it off the other team and those are the little things that help you win.”

It was Newton’s 12th straight win over Boone, which came into the match unbeaten at 2-0-2.

The Cardinals also fell behind early in the contest as Dylan Boulton scored off a header following a deflection that went off the hands of Newton keeper Javin Doland, who made the initial stop on the play.

Newton has only scored first in two of the team’s eight matches, but the Cardinals’ two victories this spring have come after facing 1-0 deficits.

And Doland’s effort in goal was a big reason Newton had a chance to win late in the match.

“He kept us in the game. They could have scored a few goals there that would have taken us out of it,” Jensen said about Doland’s effort between the pipes. “I’m really proud of him this year. He’s been a shot stopper, and he’s got the confidence and the swagger we need from a new keeper.”

One of Doland’s best saves came 9 minutes into the match. His diving attempt knocked the ball off the right post and out of bounds.

Doland finished with 18 saves in the win. He now has 103 saves, which ranks third in the state and second in Class 3A. His 81.7 save percentage leads all of Iowa, too.

The Cardinals (2-4-2) changed up their formation at Thursday’s practice, but the slow start forced Jensen and his coaching staff to scrap it and return to a previous shape.

Boulton scored his second goal of the season in the 12th minute.

“We made a change to our formation, and it looked really good in practice,” Jensen said. “It was the best we’ve practiced all year, but then we brought it out here and it looked terrible. We had to switch back to our old way about halfway through the first half because it wasn’t working. We adapted well on the fly there.”

The Cardinals evened the match at 1-all after a goal by Aiden Robson in the 37th minute. It was his team-leading second goal of the season and Austin Kennedy delivered his first career varsity assist.

The match stayed even until the 70th minute. Landon Bozarth was fouled from behind in the box, and then put away a penalty kick to give his team the lead.

It was Bozarth’s first career varsity goal. He’s the fifth player to score a goal for Newton this spring, too.

Boone (2-1-2) out-shot Newton 23-14 in the match and had a 19-8 surplus in shots on goal. But the Cardinals took 11 of their 17 shots and put five of their eight shots on goal in the second half.

After losing the corner kick battle 3-0 in the first 40 minutes, Newton had a 3-1 advantage in the second 40.

Vest sealed the victory with his late-match effort down the sideline on the near side of the pitch.

“I feel like I played the best I’ve played all season,” Vest said. “There’s for sure things we need to work on, but the team played well.

“Our passing is better, and we’re getting better touches on our deep balls. We need to put more shots at the goal and get more of our through balls in the air though.”

Jensen loved his team’s fight down the stretch as they preserved a lead in the final 10 minutes.

He’s still searching for more intensity from a large chunk of his guys though.

“A win’s a win and goals are goals. We’ll take it,” Jensen said. “We’ve seen the guys in their first gear, but we haven’t seen a lot of second and third gears. We need to see that extra intensity.”

Notes: The Cardinals’ two victories were 2-1 scores, and Newton trailed 1-0 in both matches. They also scored first in a 2-1 conference loss to Pella Christian. … Robson, Troy Ramsey and Parker Kennedy all have two goals to lead Newton. Bozarth scored his first career goal in the win over Boone, but he does have a team-best four assists.