It took awhile for the Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer team to solve Fort Dodge’s defensive alignment on Tuesday.
After scoring just one goal in the first half, the top-ranked Jaguars added four more in the final 40 minutes to post a 5-0 victory at Fort Dodge. They improved their record to 11-2, while the Dodgers dropped to 4-5.
“They ran a high line against us for much of the first half,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “It was just kind of problematic to get that spread out, and of course they have one of the best keepers in the state of Iowa. It was just hard for us to find the back of the net.”
Paige Frette scored a pair of goals in the win, while Miranda Wood added a goal and two assists. Marisa Smith also chipped in two assists.
“Once we got that first goal, we were able to get them to open up a little bit more and we started attacking throughout the midfield,” Allen said. “That worked out well for us.”
The Jaguars were again forced to adjust their lineup during the middle of the game, which has often been the case this season.
“Unfortunately, we’d like to be healthier than we are,” Allen said. “But fortunately, we had players who were hungry to get on the field and they stepped up. We went with a totally different formation in the second half, and that’s kind of been the story of our year.”