Lucas Newhard joined the Ankeny boys’ soccer team this season with the hope of qualifying for the state tournament.
Newhard accomplished his goal on Wednesday night.
The senior forward scored two goals to lead the top-ranked Hawks to a 3-0 victory over visiting Sioux City East in a Class 3A substate final.
“It’s an amazing feeling to go to state,” said Newhard. “This team has put in a lot of hard work and dedication to get where we are are now, but we still have lots of work to do.”
The Hawks (19-1) defeated Sioux City East for the second time this season. The Black Raiders finished at 14-4.
“We knew they were going to come out and battle us, and that’s what we tried to do, too,” said Ankeny coach Marcus Varnum. “It was a good battle, and the (rainy) conditions didn’t make it any easier, either. I’m just proud of the boys for showing their experience and their maturity, and for punching our ticket to state.”
The game was scoreless until late in the first half, when Newhard found the net for his first goal.
“We were confident we could win this game, but we still had to play our style of soccer tonight to get this win,” Newhard said. “Sioux City East is a competitive and good team, and we had to play hard until the end to get this win.”
Newhard scored his second goal early in the second half. It was his 36th goal of the season, which is tied for third among all scorers in the state.
“The conditions were tricky, and East had some chances,” Varnum said. “They made it difficult on us, but once we got that goal late in the first half it helped us to settle in and play our style. Lucas did what Lucas does.”
Ankeny later added another goal–this one by Conor Wahlberg–to complete the scoring. It was his fifth goal of the year.
“The conditions weren’t great, but we battled and played our style allowing us to handle it,” Wahlberg said. “Of course, our team is very happy and excited but we know we still have to stay focused and prepare for the next games to come. I believe we have a chance to go all the way, but we have to continue to work hard in order to do so.”
Ankeny earned the No. 1 seed for next week’s state tournament at Cownie Park, but still received a tough draw. The Hawks will play Waukee Northwest (8-10) in a Class 3A quarterfinal on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on Field 6.
Northwest was third in the latest rankings, but dropped down to the No. 8 seed after the Wolves forfeited several games for using an ineligible player.
“It’s a little wild, but we’re going to have to play tough teams no matter what to get to where we want to end up,” Varnum said. “It is a little wonky, though, that we’re playing a team that I think is top-three in the first round of state. That definitely is crazy, but it’s a good opportunity for us to rise up to the occasion.”
Northwest advanced with a 3-1 win over No. 13 Dowling Catholic. The Wolves lost at Ankeny, 2-1, in overtime on May 10.
“The circumstances are not exactly what we expected as the No. 1 seed, but we’re going to make sure that we control what we can control,” Varnum said.
