Shannon's hat trick lifts Cardinal girls past Grinnell

Apr. 12—The Newton girls' soccer team came into its final Little Hawkeye Conference matchup with Grinnell with three goals in four matches.

But Briana Shannon made sure that changed against the Tigers and her first career hat trick lifted the Cardinals to a 3-0 home win at H.A. Lynn Stadium on Tuesday.

All three of Shannon's goals came in the second half and the Newton defense did the rest, registering its second shutout of the spring.

"We did so well today. And Riley made some great passes," Shannon said. "I have been working hard in practice at trying to get the assisted pass into the goal, and I'm glad the hard work paid off today."

The Cardinal defense returned a handful of starters from last year's team, but the offensive players are all brand new and most of them are freshmen and sophomores.

Newton girls co-head soccer coaches Susan Altemeier and Victoria Jordan are throwing a lot at their younger players, and they hope the momentum gained in the win over Grinnell extends in future contests.

"We've been working a lot in practice with staying in our formations, keeping those triangles and making good passes to our teammates," Altemeier said. "Instead of turning the ball inside, we are trying to lay it out to the outside and then bring the ball back to the center. That should make us more successful, and we were able to see that tonight.

"It's really important to keep your shape, front to back and side to side, and they are learning how to do that. They are still young, and we are throwing a lot at them."

The Cardinals (2-2-1 overall, 1-0-1 in the conference) controlled the action against Grinnell. They held a 13-3 advantage in shots on goal.

The defense, which has allowed only three goals in five matches this season, kept the home team in the contest until Shannon cracked the scoreboard in the 41st minute.

Newton held an 8-0 advantage in shots and a 4-0 surplus in corner kicks in the first half. Shannon scored goals on three of her five shots on goal but was shut out of her opportunities in the first 40 minutes.

"Kobe Bryant is one of my favorite basketball players and he always says 'if you miss a shot, don't worry about the crowd, it's all about you and your team,'" Shannon said. "I know my team has my back, and if I mess up they are there. I tried to forget about the ones I missed and move on to the next one."

She did that against Grinnell (1-1, 0-1) and her goal in the first 30 seconds of the second half would have been enough to secure the win. She converted the shot after the Tiger goalie couldn't handle the initial shot on goal.

Shannon put in her second goal about 21 minutes later. She angled the ball perfectly into the left corner of the net.

"Now that the first one went in, I can feel an opening and there are hopefully more coming," Shannon said. "We really worked together as a team today."

Shannon completed the hat trick a little more than a minute later and the 3-0 advantage held up against a Grinnell squad which scored three goals in its only other match this spring.

Cardinal keeper Natalee Freese needed to make just three saves in the win. She currently ranks 15th in Class 2A with 32 saves in her first season as the primary goalie.

"We were comfortable last year playing her at goalie and were going to make that transition, but she got hurt," Altemeier said. "She's always been up to this standard. She's come back from her injury and done a wonderful job for us."

The rest of the defense features senior Addison Ross, junior Estella Allen and sophomores Alex Garvis and Delaney Woollums.

Allen is the newcomer to the group. She played a different position last year but missed most of the season with an injury.

"I think Madison (Altemeier) did a great job last year of leading our young defensive players and teaching them what they need to do," Coach Altemeier said. "They are very comfortable now in what they need to do and they continue to work hard.

"Estella Allen was out most of the year last year, but we recognized she's a strength for us at outside back and she's done wonderful things for us."

Notes: The Cardinals' two losses were 1-0 defeats and both of their wins were shutouts. ... Shannon leads the Cardinals with four goals and eight points. ... Freese has a save percentage of 91.4 through the first five matches. ... The Newton girls are 8-3 against Grinnell since 2011 and have won four straight in the series.