The Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer team clinched at least a share of the CIML Iowa Conference title with a 1-0 victory at Ames on Tuesday.
The third-ranked Jaguars improved to 5-0 in the league and 13-2 overall with their ninth straight win. It was their fourth shutout in a row and their 12th of the season.
“Defensively, any of the 11 girls who were on the field were pretty locked in and did a nice job of reducing Ames’s chances to, I believe, one shot on goal, which didn’t fluster (goalkeeper) Kate (Bergan), and a couple of corner kicks,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “In fact, our backline of Courtney Kovacs, Maddison Balashaitis, Elle Street and Ella Hudachek have done a great job of growing into a formidable crew throughout the season, and any of our other players who substitute into this line have done well as well. Both Street and Hudachek did an excellent job of getting into the attack for us.”
Centennial scored the game’s only goal in the 15th minute. Freshman Ava Martin found the net off an assist by Alanna Pennington for her seventh goal of the season.
The Jaguars otherwise had trouble converting their chances, but the one goal proved to be enough.
“Ames put in a strong defensive shift and created difficulties for our attack throughout the game,” Allen said. “We managed to keep the pressure on but didn’t quite have the placement or runs to finish some of the crosses that were generated. These are situations which will push us to elevate our play.”
Bergan and Teagan Hall combined on the shutout. Ames’ records dropped to 2-2 and 4-8.
Centennial will play at No. 5 Waukee Northwest (11-2) on Friday. A win would allow the Jaguars to capture the outright conference championship.