On Senior Night, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team got a huge lift from one of its seniors.
Jesus Gonzalez had a hat trick to lead the sixth-ranked Jaguars to a 6-0 victory over No. 15 Ames in a CIML Iowa Conference game on Tuesday at Centennial. Fellow senior Evan Larson also had a goal in the win.
“It was great to be able to start all 11 seniors on Senior Night and get the result,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax.
Gonzalez has now scored 12 goals on the season, becoming the fourth Jaguar to amass a double-digit total. Junior Rashidi Ishibwami leads the team with 18 goals, while sophomores Ty Duax and Andrew Heckenlaible each has contributed 11.
“I don’t know if there’s another team in the state with four players with that many goals,” Duax said. “I don’t know if anyone’s even close.”
Heckenlaible had a goal and two assists for Centennial, while Duax scored the team’s other goal. Ishibwami had two assists, and Beau Brazeau added one.
Gonzalez has only started five games, but is making a strong push for more playing time.
“Jesus is a clinical finisher,” Duax said. “He is forcing me to find him more and more minutes because he finishes chances all the time. It’s a great problem to have.”
The Jaguars held a 4-0 lead at halftime. Duax said the margin could have been even greater.
“We weren’t as efficient and as dominant as we could have been,” he said. “I got after the boys at halftime. We were not doing the little things right or good enough to help us get to our goal. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as stern as I was when we were leading 4-0.”
Ames coach Ryan McGowan, meanwhile, was ready to raise a white flag. He told Duax after the game that his team had no chance to stop Centennial’s onslaught.
“(McGowan) said, ‘You had guys everywhere, and our defenders didn’t know which one to key on,'” Duax recalled. “But that’s what we’re trying to build. If you’re going to key on one guy, the others are going to punish you.”
The Jaguars improved to 4-1 in the conference and 12-2 overall. Ames’ records dropped to 3-2 and 7-4.
Centennial will host an Iowa Conference game against No. 3 Waukee Northwest on Friday. The Wolves (12-2) are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss at No. 2 Ankeny on Tuesday.
