By Adam Frank
As the Newton South and Newton North fans poured through the fence onto the bleacher, the Lions were determined and ready to defeat the Tigers in the Depeter Classic. Ultimately, they came up short, losing 12-8.
South needed this win in order to make the state tournament, but North ended up putting South’s season to an end.
The Lions started off the game slowly, going the first quarter without scoring.
Within the first 30 seconds, The Lions were down by one; a North attackman scored from an inside shot.
Minutes later, while South was clearing the ball from their own defensive end, sophomore goalie Henry Donnellan attempted to pass the ball to a defender on the outside of the box. The pass was intercepted by a North attackman, who then continued to score on the fast break.
To end the first quarter, a North midfielder lit up the scoreboard with 30 seconds left, making it 3-0 going into the second quarter.
South came back strong in the second quarter; junior Josh Gordon scored 2 minutes in. But North came back with an immediate fast break goal.
North led 4-1 as junior David Kennedy put one in with 5 minutes left in the second.
With 1 minute left, a North attackman ran around the crease with the ball, beating his defender, and then passed the ball to the open attackman, where the slide came from. Senior Sam Houston-Read scored with 30 seconds left to end the first half at 6-3.
Coming out of halftime, South was eager to change the scoreboard. Two minutes into the second half, junior Jake Alexander rifled a bounce shot, hitting top left and setting the tone for the last half of the game.
Two minutes later, Gordon scored again with an outside shot. With 3 minutes left senior captain Zach Pawa dodged from the goal line extended and tied the game at 6-6. After 3 unanswered goals, North scored with 40 seconds left and again with 7 seconds left. South headed into the fourth, trailing by two: 8-6.
South’s spark in the the third was quickly put out, and as they headed into the fourth, North had control. North scored within the first minute, followed by another goal for the Tigers. With 3 minutes left, Gordon took a time and room shot from outside and scored, attempting to fight back, but the Tigers had pulled away.
The final score was 12-8.
Donnellan said that he believed they played well.
“We played hard but didn’t get it done,” he said. “I’m obviously disappointed, but I am looking towards the future.”
