The Bobcats were largely solid in defense during the first half of the game, with goalie Esme Chavez and central defenders Sara Huffman and Taryn Bell twice making last-ditch efforts to keep Newton out of the net.

Head coach Stacy Galema said for such a young group, she’s been mostly impressed with how the group has played over two games.

“They’re understanding how each other plays, which is a big thing,” Galema said. “There’s three freshmen and a sophomore back there, there’s a lot of inexperience, but I think they’re also used to there not being one star back there. I think this group has a more shared responsibility.”

Though the Bobcats didn’t have much of an attacking impetus in the first half, freshman striker Alexia Garcia got behind the Newton defense and had two of her three shots at goal to give the Cardinals a scare. Garcia took three shots over the course of the game.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

But with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, the Cardinals struck with a bundled-in finish from forward Audrey Rausch to open the scoring.

The attacking duo of Rausch and Brynn Cazett caused issues for the Bobcats’ youthful defense in the first half and early in the second half by swapping positions and using their speed to keep the defenders off-balance.

Some of this was due to a lack of communication from the team’s defense, Galema said.

“We lost them a couple times,” Galema said. “In the first half we definitely lost them a lot, even when we were telling them to mark up. We let them turn, they received the ball and they could turn and a good player, as soon as they face goal, they’re gonna look for a shot right away.”

In the second half, the Cardinals continued to put pressure on — and a quick counter-attack finished off by Marin Pettigrew effectively ended Marshalltown’s chances of a comeback. To add on to the scoreline, Cazett scored with around 20 minutes left in the game on a shot from distance that floated and looped over the head of Chavez for a goal. Chavez performed well, recording 16 saves in her varsity debut.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

The Bobcats host Waterloo East Monday night.