The fifth-ranked Ankeny boys’ soccer team remained unbeaten with a pair of victories on Saturday at the Urbandale Invitational.
The Hawks rolled to a 4-0 win over Indianola, then immediately followed with a 2-1 triumph over Des Moines Lincoln. They raised their record to 5-0 on the season.
“It was a good day,” said Ankeny coach Marcus Varnum. “We wanted to get out of there 2-0. We knew we had quite the day ahead of us with two games in a row back-to-back and just wanted to make sure that we focused on getting the results but also some experience and playing time for everyone. We got both goals achieved, so we felt like it was a successful day.”
Ankeny built a 2-0 halftime lead in both games. Mason Yeatts had a pair of goals in the win over Indianola (0-4), while Lucas Newhard also had a goal.
It was Newhard’s team-leading seventh goal of the season.
“I think we created a good number of chances throughout the day,” Varnum said. “We hit the posts multiple times, and we had some close opportunities in both games that didn’t go our way. But the most important thing is that we gave some minutes and some experience to some guys who maybe won’t see the field that much throughout the year.”
In the win over Lincoln (0-5), Ankeny appeared to be in control until the Railsplitters closed the gap to 2-1 on a penalty kick by Osvaldo Vizcarra in the second half. But the Hawks held on for the victory.
“Lincoln definitely scared us a bit,” Varnum said. “We had to manage the game for the last 10 minutes. We gave away a PK, so we have to make sure that we tidy things up a bit with our back line.”
Ankeny will travel to Valley Stadium on Monday for a non-conference game against Valley (1-1). It’ll be a rematch of last year’s Class 3A substate final, which was won by the Tigers, 3-1.
“It’s always going to be a test going to Valley,” Varnum said. “But we feel confident we can bring it to them as well.”