In boys’ soccer, Cedar Rapids Kennedy has another No. 1-ranked team

CEDAR RAPIDS — For Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Carter Newhouse, playing on a top-ranked team is nothing new.

In March, Newhouse was starting at guard for Kennedy’s No. 1-rated basketball team in the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Now, he’s a starting forward for Class 4A’s No. 1 boys’ soccer team. He’s hoping his experience on the court is something that translates to his team on the pitch.

“It’s all about mentality,” Newhouse said. “For me, I played basketball and we fell short in the state tournament. So, I’ve got that for me as motivation. And luckily being kind of one of the leaders, I can bring that mentality to the whole team.

“We’re really rolling. I think we can continue this the rest of the season. I think we can make it to Des Moines.”

Kennedy (6-1) Coach Adrian Evans admits the Cougars’ hot start is a bit “surprising” to him.

Kennedy started 0-3 in 2022 and finished 9-9.

“We weren’t ranked last year at all I don’t think,” Evans said. “We had a rough start to the year last year, and then the guys kind of pulled together. We rattled off a string of wins for a while and then just ran into Prairie in the substate semifinals and they handed it to us.”

So far in 2023, things have been clicking just right for Kennedy. Wins over No. 2 Johnston and Ankeny to begin the season set the tempo.

“We lost to Johnston and Ankeny in the past couple years, so to start off 2-0 against those teams, it really meant a lot to us,” Newhouse said. “It’s kind of the perfect confidence booster we needed.”

Iowa City High handed the Cougars their first loss Tuesday, 2-1 in overtime.

Kennedy is led by senior captains Newhouse and Lwings Kabula.

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Kabula leads the team in goals with Newhouse behind him. Kabula, a Mississippi Valley Conference division player of the year last spring, and Newhouse also were 1-2 in goals for the Cougars in 2022.

“Lwings is off to a crazy hot start, so just having him is super important,” Newhouse said. “We’ve been playing together in club in the offseason and then through school, so I think our chemistry is really high.

“We also brought in a Jefferson transfer (Joshua Morris) who we’ve also played club with, so there’s a lot more chemistry there. He’s been key for us in the midfield.”

“I think a lot of it (early success) comes down to our senior leadership, especially our captains,” Evans said. “Lwings is coming off a successful season last year, and then Carter coming off his successful season with the basketball team.

“They brought an energy into the beginning of the year that the rest of the players have just stepped up to match. It’s an absolute joy to watch them because they just love taking charge.”

While Kabula and Newhouse have largely handled the scoring, the Cougars also have been stout defensively.

Kennedy rotates two goalies, senior Tyler Miers and junior Bogdan Breckenridge. The pair have combined for 29 saves through six games.

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“Our goal-keeping tandem has done really well,” Evans said. “Tyler Miers has really stood on his head a couple times. Those two have really been helpful.”

Also bolstering the Cougars’ defense are seniors Trevor Shanle and Amisi Lubosha.

“Our back line is really starting to grow together, especially our two center backs (Shanle and Lubosha),” Evans said. “It’s fun to watch because now they’re holding each other accountable.”

While there’s still plenty of work in front of them, Evans is excited to see his team believe in itself.

“I love watching them realize how good they are,” Evans said. “It’s one thing for coaches to look at a team and be like, ‘yeah, you guys are really special’ … it’s another thing for them to look around at each other and go, ‘you know, we might have something here. If we put the work in, we might be able to do something special.’”