The Des Moines Roosevelt boys’ soccer team opened its season on Tuesday against a familiar foe.
Rashidi Ishibwami scored a goal and added an assist to lead Ankeny Centennial to a 3-0 victory over the Roughriders in a non-conference game at Cownie Park. Ishibwami, a junior, transferred from Roosevelt to Centennial before the start of the school year.
“He was very excited,” Centennial coach Brian Duax said of Ishibwami. “He actually stayed around and hung out with some of his former teammates during the JV1 game. Rashidi wanted to have a good result against them, and I think he pressed a little bit too much in the first half. But in the second half, he was really good.”
Centennial (3-1) held a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Jaguars scored midway through the first half on a deep shot by defender Jackson Helmkamp.
It was Helmkamp’s third goal of the season.
“Jackson is a closet attacking player,” Duax said. “He’s a really good defender that loves to attack.”
Ishibwami and Jesus Gonzalez then added goals in the second half. Ishibwami leads the team with four goals.
Ty Duax and Evan Larson each had an assist. Duax has racked up five assists in four games.
“Roosevelt played a very defensive style that made us be super patient,” coach Duax said. “We had to try to manipulate their defenders to move into areas that we could exploit, and it took some time for the boys to get that done.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Nelson made two saves en route to the shutout.
The Jaguars will host a non-conference game against Norwalk (0-1) on Friday. It will be their home opener.