It wasn’t a perfect weekend for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team.
But coach Brian Duax will take it.
The Jaguars opened their season by winning two of three games at the Iowa City West Invitational. They posted 4-0 victories over Iowa City West and Muscatine–sandwiched around a 2-1 loss to Iowa City High.
“We beat Muscatine after they beat Iowa City High, so the ups and downs of early season soccer was in full effect over the weekend,” said Duax. “Overall, I’m very happy with what the boys did. To go 2-1 against three top-10 east side of the state teams…I’ll take it.”
Centennial opened the tournament on Friday with a dominant win over the host Trojans (0-1). Ty Duax had a goal and an assist for the Jaguars, who held a 1-0 lead at the half before adding three more goals in the second half.
Jesus Gonzalez, Jackson Helmkamp and Rashidi Ishibwami also scored goals. Lucas Cowman and Andrew Heckenlaible each added an assist.
“You go over there to test yourself early in the year,” Duax said of the tournament. “We played really well against Iowa City West, who was last year’s (Class 3A state) runner-up. We really put it on them. It wasn’t even as close as 4-0.”
On Saturday morning, the Jaguars lost to Iowa City High (1-0) in a game that was shortened due to some unforeseen circumstances. The Little Hawks scored the winning goal with 8 seconds left in regulation.
“We had to face some adversity the first part of Saturday,” Duax said. “We showed up at the game, but there was a mix-up on the start time so we only had a brief warmup and the game was shortened. And then it snowed and rain.
“We didn’t play well, but there are no excuses. City High beat us on two set pieces, and one of them was with 8 seconds to go. We didn’t keep our guard up and finish the game out so we could go to (penalty kicks), and they scored,” he added.
Helmkamp scored the only goal for Centennial. He was assisted by Duax.
The Jaguars later rebounded with the victory over Muscatine (1-1), scoring three of their four goals in the first half. Ishibwami had two goals and an assist to lead the way.
“Rashidi moved from Des Moines Roosevelt at the beginning of the year,” Duax said. “He’s going to be a big-time contributor for us.”
Broden Haley had a goal and an assist in the win. Braden Thiele also scored a goal, while Duax added two more assists.
Coach Duax was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“Our back line, to not give up a goal in the run of play in three games, was big time,” he said. “(Goalkeeper) Andrew Nelson made his first three varsity starts this weekend, and he only gave up two goals on set pieces.”
Centennial will play Roosevelt (0-0) on Tuesday at Cownie Park, beginning at 4:45 p.m. The Jaguars will then play another non-conference game on Friday, hosting Norwalk (0-1) at 7:30 p.m.