The Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team tuned up for Tuesday’s showdown against Ankeny by splitting a pair of games on Saturday in Iowa City.
The third-ranked Jaguars suffered a 2-1 loss to No. 2 Bettendorf before defeating No. 6 Iowa City High, 3-2, in a shootout.
“I thought we were the better side in both games,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax, whose team is now 9-2 on the season. “We didn’t finish our chances in the first game. Literally, Bettendorf had two shots on goal and they scored two goals.”
Freshman Michael Poitry scored Centennial’s lone goal in the loss to Bettendorf (9-1). He was assisted by Nick Ashton.
Alex Keninger had a pair of goals in the win over the Little Hawks. The Jaguars took a 2-1 lead before City High (9-3) scored on a penalty kick to force the shootout.
“The ref gave them a very late PK,” Duax said. “I don’t believe it was a PK, but he gave them the call and that tied it at 2. We immediately went into kicks because it was a tournament, and fortunately we came out on top. The second game was a way more even game, but we were also exhausted and so were they.”
Keninger and Ashton both converted their penalty kicks in the shootout. Michael Brandt, Will Overberg, Connor Page and Cole Vincent also scored for the Jaguars.
“I think that was a big win for us,” said Keninger, who now has six goals on the season. “Coming out with a win against a really strong team like them was a much-needed morale boost for the team after the previous two games (against Valley and Bettendorf).”