The Bobcats made the most of their opportunities on this night, and the score was a direct reflection of that.

Two nights after starting the season with a 5-2 home loss to Des Moines North, the Marshalltown boys’ soccer team snapped back by blasting Newton 6-0 for its first win of the spring.

Andres Ordaz figured into four of the Bobcats’ six goals, scoring three times to lead MHS (1-1) ahead of this weekend’s Bobcat Soccer Invite. Marshalltown entertains Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck in Saturday’s 9 a.m. opener, while South Tama County and Des Moines Christian meet in the 11 a.m. contest. The consolation (1 p.m.) and championship (3 p.m.) games follow.

MHS won its inaugural tournament last spring, and head coach Scott Johannes hopes Thursday’s recovery from Tuesday’s opening defeat goes a long way to help his Bobcats get another invite title this weekend.

“Huge,” he said of the win. “Scoring that early, the pressure’s off, but you know you can get some more in. But then it also opens up to where it feels like everybody’s going to score, and everybody wants to shoot.

“Don’t force it, just relax and have fun.”

The Bobcats dominated possession throughout the match despite the windy conditions, catching lightning in a bottle in the second minute. Ordaz caught, dribbled, turned and fired a bouncing left-footed shot that beat Newton goalkeeper Henry Allen inside the near post just 1 minute, 49 seconds into the game.

Marshalltown made sure to finish off the Cardinals (0-2) before the visitors could gain any momentum. Angel Chavez Ordaz finished off a high-arching cross into the box by Ordaz, heading the ball past Allen for a 2-0 lead at the 10:02 mark. Just 1:41 later, Ordaz took a pass from Damien Segovia and lofted a shot that the wind carried just over Allen’s outstretched arms for a 3-0 lead.

Newton didn’t get its first shot on goal until the 34th minute of the first half, and it was one of only two Marshalltown goalkeepers Jonathan Nunez and Giles Smith would face.

Once the Bobcats got the wind at their backs in the second half, the Cardinals couldn’t maintain possession long enough to build much of a threat and Marshalltown blanked them on the scoreboard for the second year in a row.

Ordaz secured his hat trick after scoring on a penalty kick he earned when he was fouled in the box. Just 3:36 into the second half, Ordaz had three tallies and the Bobcats led 4-0.

“Like his brother Aaron (Ordaz Zambrano), we’ve been watching these guys for years, and they work very well together,” Johannes said.

Ordaz Zambrano, the team’s leading goal scorer the past two seasons, got two more into the net on Thursday, converting passes from Segovia and Jovani Mendoza to boost the Bobcats’ lead to 6-0.

Marshalltown outshot the Cardinals 33-5, unofficially, as Allen made 15 saves in Newton’s second-consecutive 6-0 loss to start the season.