A former assistant coach for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team devised a strategy that befuddled the Jaguars during the first half of a Class 3A quarterfinal on Wednesday at Cownie Park.
Fortunately, Centennial coach Brian Duax and his staff came up with an alternate plan that worked.
The fifth-ranked Jaguars rallied for three goals in the second half to beat No. 7 Urbandale, 3-2, for the second time this season. It was Centennial’s first win in three quarterfinal appearances under Duax.
Urbandale coach Darby Wesley previously served as an assistant on Duax’s staff.
“Darby had a really good plan in the first half. He was man marking us in the middle of the field and making our backs play it over the top,” Duax said. “So, we adjusted and put four guys in the midfield where they couldn’t man us up, and that’s where all the opportunities came from, whether it was Ty (Duax) or Truckie (Andrew Heckenlaible) finding little pockets of space because they couldn’t be manned up.”
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Centennial scored its first goal in the 43rd minute when Ty Duax found the net off a pass from Braden Thiele.
“Braden found the ball, and I saw the center back didn’t see me so I went to his blind side,” Ty said. “Braden played a great ball in, and I scored. It felt great, and I wanted more. I wanted another one.”
Just a few minutes later, Duax scored the equalizer off an assist by Rashidi Ishibwami. It was his 15th goal of the season.
“They were man marking me personally in the midfield,” Ty said. “So if we added just one more numerically we’d be better. So we played four, and that gave me space and I just did what I do.”
The Jaguars scored the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute. Heckenlaible found the net for his 14th goal off another assist by Ishibwami.
“Rashidi came in on the wing, and I don’t really know (what happened) to be honest,” Heckenlaible said. “The ball found him, and he played it through. I took a touch, I hit it and thank God the crossbar was round and it went in.
“The first 40 (minutes) we felt out the game, and our style wasn’t working. We had to switch it up, and we executed the game plan. We switched to three up top–condensed–and it really worked out. It gave us a lot more chances,” he added.
Urbandale (16-4) dominated the first half on the scoreboard, getting a goal from Denis Sehic off a corner kick in the 10th minute. The J-Hawks then added another goal on a counterattack in the 22nd minute.
“We only gave up two shots and two goals,” coach Duax said. “We have to be cleaner in the back. We have to stop giving up set piece goals, and we have to stop digging a hole to get out of.”
Shortly after Urbandale’s second goal, the J-Hawks were called for a foul in the box. But the ensuing penalty kick by Duax was stopped by goalkeeper Nathaniel Hersom.
“I was the one who missed the pens so I felt like I had to go out there and score one or two,” Ty said. “That’s what I did.”
Centennial (16-3) moved two wins away from its first state title.
“The first half we were worried, but we showed a lot of grit and determination,” said Centennial senior Evan Larson. “There’s definitely things we need to work on. But I’m just proud of our boys for bouncing back.”
The Jaguars will play No. 3 Waukee Northwest (9-10) in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. on Field 6. The eighth-seeded Wolves ousted No. 1 Ankeny, 2-1, on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t get any easier at all,” said coach Duax, whose team is the highest remaining seed after all four lower seeds won in the quarterfinals.
Northwest posted a 3-1 victory at Centennial on May 13.
“Sticking together and playing as a team will be the key,” Heckenlaible said. “The last time we played them we dominated the first 20 (minutes) but then the rest of the game they just kicked our ass. The problem there was we weren’t connecting passes. If we go out and connect passes and keep the ball, nobody can beat us.”
