Some losses are more damaging than others.
Friday’s 3-1 loss to visiting Waukee Northwest probably won’t cost the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team much of anything.
“These games, because the substate seedings are already out, really don’t have a ton of meaning,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “The only meaning they really have is for seeding at the state tournament, and you have to get there before that even matters. It really only matters to eight teams.”
The fourth-ranked Jaguars dominated much of the first half. They took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute on a penalty kick by Ty Duax, his 12th goal of the season.
“Andrew (Heckenlaible) intercepted a pass and got taken down in the box,” Duax said. “Waukee (Northwest) is always a good side, but I would say for the first 25 or 30 minutes, we were in complete control and had plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. We just didn’t finish chances.”
The momentum of the game shifted when the No. 3 Wolves changed their attacking strategy late in the first half.
“They started playing big, which put our back line in a difficult situation,” Duax said. “We didn’t adjust. We just wanted to see how they would do.”
Northwest tied the game on a goal by Cole Schrage with about 5 minutes left until halftime.
“We got caught on a set piece,” Duax said. “We weren’t paying attention, and they played it short and whipped it in. (Goalkeeper) Andrew (Nelson) made a good save on the first one, but they scored on the rebound.”
Schrage later scored on a penalty kick in the second half to give Northwest a 2-1 lead. He eventually added another goal to complete a hat trick, giving him 17 goals on the year.
“They did a lot of the same things and kept going big, which we were ok with,” Duax said. “They never really scored in the run of play. First they scored on the PK, then we were pressing for a goal and they caught us on a counter-attack. We only had two defenders at that point.”
The Wolves improved to 4-1 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 13-2 overall. Centennial finished 4-2 in the league and dropped to 12-3 on the season.
After the loss, the Jaguars dropped to No. 5 in the latest rankings.
“We had (Northwest) on the ropes, but we just didn’t finish our chances,” Duax said. “They typically don’t go big. That’s not their style, but kudos to them. The second half became like a track meet. It was one counter-attack after another, which we are good at. But our midfield started to get tired.”
The Jaguars will close out the regular season on Tuesday with a non-conference game at No. 13 Dowling Catholic (10-6).