• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ankeny Fanatic

Your Ankeny Sports Resource

  • Home
  • About
    • Support Us
  • News
    • Podcast
  • Hawks
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
  • Jaguars
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
You are here: Home / Hawks / Spring / Boys' Soccer / Valley avenges earlier loss to Ankeny, will now face Jaguars in 3A quarterfinals

Valley avenges earlier loss to Ankeny, will now face Jaguars in 3A quarterfinals

May 28, 2021 by Dan Holm

Ankeny’s Michael Vacek battles for the ball with Valley’s Elijah Guzman during a Class 3A substate final on Wednesday at Valley Stadium. Guzman scored the game’s first goal to help the Tigers to a 3-1 victory. (Photo by Dan Holm)

The path to a state title for the Valley boys’ soccer team will have to go through both of Ankeny’s teams.

The fourth-ranked Tigers avenged an earlier loss with a 3-1 victory over No. 13 Ankeny in a Class 3A substate final on Wednesday at Valley Stadium. The Hawks finished the season with an 11-6 record.

Valley (16-4) advances to the Class 3A quarterfinals, where the Tigers will meet No. 6 Ankeny Centennial (15-4) on Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. at Cownie Soccer Park.

“That is going to be a game that I want to go to. That is going to be such a good game,” said Ankeny coach Marcus Varnum. “Both sides have great coaching, and it’s going to be a chess match. It’s going to be really exciting.”

Ankeny goalkeeper Kyle Pederson gets ready to put the ball into play during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Dan Holm)

Valley got off to a fast start against Ankeny, taking several shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the game. But the Tigers were unable to convert on any of those early chances.

“I told the boys before the start of the game, ‘It’s going to be a crazy first 5 minutes or so. If we can weather that storm, then I think we’re going to be all right,'” Varnum said. “And we got through that first 5 minutes, but holy cow, they just kept going. I thought there was no way they could keep up that intensity and that pressure for the whole 80 minutes, but it just kept going. So you have to give kudos to them.”

The two teams battled on more even terms for much of the next 20 minutes before Valley took the lead on a goal by Elijah Guzman. He scored on a header off a corner kick for his seventh goal of the season.

Just before halftime, the Tigers added another goal when star forward Jaren Obia got loose and found the net. It put Ankeny into a deep hole at the break.

Ankeny coach Marcus Varnum checks on the status of freshman defender Tyler Woods, who suffered an injury after colliding with a Valley player during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Dan Holm)

“We were trying to get to the half,” Varnum said. “If it had been 1-0, we knew we could bounce back. But when they got that second goal, that was really tough.”

Early in the second half, Obia converted a penalty kick to give Valley a commanding 3-0 advantage. It was his 33rd goal of the season.

Obia also scored twice in the Tigers’ 3-2 loss to Ankeny in a shootout on April 17 at Valley Stadium.

“He’s going to create chances for himself, and when you’re dealing with someone like that who can almost run faster with the ball than he can without, the kid just doesn’t have a slow speed,” Varnum said of Obia. “Dealing with someone like that for 80 minutes is not easy.”

Ankeny’s Kwaku Kwarteng sits on the bench after leaving Wednesday’s game with a minor injury. He later returned to the Hawks’ lineup. (Photo by Dan Holm)

The Hawks answered with a goal midway through the half. Jace Ward scored on a counterattack to cut the Tigers’ lead to 3-1, but Ankeny was unable to mount a serious threat the rest of the way.

“We kept battling, but the energy and the momentum was still in their favor,” Varnum said. “It was just a tough hole to climb out of.”

Despite the loss, Varnum said he’s excited about the future of the program. The Hawks will have to replace only two seniors.

“It was definitely a successful year,” Varnum said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the boys. They bought into what we wanted them to do, and we grew every day as a unit. I think we can really build off of this next year, especially with almost all of our guys returning.”

Filed Under: Boys' Soccer, Hawks Tagged With: Featured, Marcus Varnum

Primary Sidebar

Support Ankeny Fanatic

Recent Posts

  • Kennedy blasts 4 homers in Jaguars’ 3 wins, sets single-season school record
  • ‘It already felt like home’: Gerstel to join Halverson on Ellsworth pitching staff
  • Struggling Hawkettes fall to 11-25 with shutout losses to ADM, North Polk
  • Hawks edge DC-G on Senior Night, extend their winning streak to 7 games
  • Valley baseball team defeats Jaguars, moves into 3-way tie atop conference

Find Us on Facebook

Ankeny Fanatic

Archives

  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017

Categories

  • Hawks
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
        • Roster
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Boys’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Swimming
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Wrestling
  • Jaguars
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Wrestling
  • Top Sports Stories
    • Football
    • Volleyball
  • Baseball
  • Softball

© 2025 Ankeny Fanatic. All rights reserved.