So we are on to the 4th rankings now. Of course Newton’s 2-3 record doesn’t look that great, but the loses were to the 2A #11, 1A #2, & 1A #10. So basically it looks like another great year of scheduling has messed up a decent preseason ranking. Obviously the rankings don’t matter and neither does the fact that Newton is not covered by the DMRegister even though we are only 35 miles away. You’d think that we moved out of Iowa, when we dropped out of the CIML. Although I think that the regionals or state pairings are seeded at some point during the year. Which usually goes against our favor. Usually we get paired up with a Valley, Ames, Johnston, Urbandale, or Dowling, but this year Newton is a 1A team so I figured they’d have to be paired up with Norwalk, Pella, Dallas Center Grimes, or someone from Central Iowa that is pretty good. Some how we ended up with the teams that are north and east of us. Which I guess has happened a couple times. Last year we went to Cedar Rapids and my first year we faced Iowa City West (which ended up winning state). So I think the pairings this year could make for a good representation for our conference and central Iowa if things go well. Can you imagine 3 teams from the Little Hawkeye in State? Not the CIML, the Little Hawkeye. I think that would be great, of course I’d plan on a little revenge from regular season loses, but what better picture can you paint for the team that is rebuilding and loss to it’s to rivals, then to beat both of them in State. Oh well, I’m a little bit of an optimist if you don’t know me. I could be down 9-0 in a game and think there was a way to win it. Don’t get me wrong, Newton’s not down by 9 right now, They’ve lost a couple tough ones, but will definately bounce back. We always had a way of winning close games and surprising teams that thought they were better than us, I don’t see that changing any time soon.
So since we have probably ruined our chances of being ranked for the next couple years by losing to 3 good teams, I don’t mind being an underdog and I can’t think of a better time to be an underdog then now. So my challenge to the current team is: take the program to somewhere that I never could, go to STATE!! It’d be the first time in Newton Girls soccer history, and don’t just stop once you get there. Anything can happen at that point. Any team can win any game and you never know how things will go. I’m going to back track a little to make it clear that this won’t be easy, but I’m hoping you can do it. Once you’ve been there, it’s something that you’ll never forget, it’s a great atmosphere, the best fields in the state, and you get treated like royalty. Staying in nice hotels, eating good food and just playing the sport you love. So don’t let the hurdles along the way get you down, there’s a lot to play for.