On paper, Friday’s game at Marshalltown appeared to be a mismatch for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars entered the contest riding an eight-game winning streak. Marshalltown, meanwhile, was on an eight-game losing skid.
However, a variety of factors turned the game into a close battle.
Centennial overcame a small field, muddy conditions and a packed back line by the Bobcats to post a 4-0 victory. All four of the Jaguars’ goals came in the second half.
“There was a lot of adversity that we faced,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “The game time was changed, and we had to scramble to get everybody out of school and a lot of of our boys didn’t even get a chance to eat. Marshalltown’s field is literally the worst field in Iowa, and the rain didn’t help. And, they were a very defensive-minded squad.
“It took us awhile to break them down in a very tight space,” he added.
Rashidi Ishibwami had a hat trick in the win, giving him a team-high 16 goals. Kellen Welsch had the other goal, his first of the season.
“Rashidi has been an awesome addition to the squad,” Duax said of the Des Moines Roosevelt transfer. “The more comfortable he gets with our guys, the better he becomes.”
Ty Duax and Andrew Heckenlaible each contributed an assist for the Jaguars. It was their team-leading 15th and 14th assists, respectively.
“Marshalltown is always a difficult place to play, and we were falling everywhere because of the field conditions,” Duax said. “It didn’t help that we were called offsides probably 10 or 15 times in the first half, and I would say that some of them maybe were not the right calls. But we had a very dominating performance in the back again. I think (goalkeeper) Andrew (Nelson) made one save all night.”
Marshalltown coach Scott Johannes told the Marshalltown Times-Republican that his team failed to capitalize on the wind in the first half.
“We wanted to take advantage of the wind and we didn’t, and they did (in the second half),” Johannes said. “I knew in the back of my mind we were going to be on our heels with the wind coming at us. They’re a fast team.”
Centennial improved to 3-0 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 10-1 overall. The Bobcats’ records dropped to 0-3 and 1-9.
The Jaguars will play No. 1 Ankeny (13-0) on Tuesday at Ankeny Stadium. It will be Pack the Pitch Night as the community tries to break the all-time attendance record for a soccer match in Iowa.
“I’ve coached a lot of those (Ankeny) boys, and they’re a great squad,” Duax said. “It’s going to be a magical game.”