Ankeny girls’ soccer coach Simon Brown was left in a state of shock.
His players were stunned as well.
The third-ranked Hawkettes saw their season come to a bitter end on Thursday at Cownie Park, where Council Bluffs Lincoln’s Hanna Schimmer scored the golden goal in overtime to give the No. 2 Lynx a 1-0 victory in the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament.
“It was just one of those games (where we couldn’t score),” Brown said. “We kind of did the same thing against (Pleasant Valley in the quarterfinals). We didn’t score today, and we got punished. When you don’t score goals, you don’t win games.”
Schimmer, the leading scorer in Class 3A, had been held in check by Ankeny’s stingy defense for more than 80 minutes. But less than 4 minutes into overtime, the senior forward found some space after taking a pass from Liberty Bates.
She didn’t let the opportunity go to waste.
Schimmer blasted a shot past Ankeny goalkeeper Jasmine Moser for the game-winner. It was her 44th goal of the season.
“Honestly, it’s kind of a blur,” Schimmer said. “But I got the ball on the outside, kind of by the 18, and just took it with my right foot. It went to the upper right 90, and it felt good.”
It was only the second goal allowed all season by the Hawkettes.
“Ankeny is a great team,” Schimmer said. “It was going to take an effort (to beat them), and we put in the work. We kept fighting through the whole game, and (the goal) came when it was supposed to.”
Council Bluffs Lincoln avenged a 1-0 loss at Ankeny on April 2. The Lynx (17-3) advanced to Saturday’s championship game at 3 p.m. against No. 5 Ankeny Centennial (18-3).
The Hawkettes, who were seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the title game, finished the season at 18-2.
“They’re awesome,” Brown said of his players. “The senior girls in their time and my time, we’ve won over 50 games in three seasons, and it’s a crazy accomplishment. I’m very proud of them, and I’m going to miss them very bad.”
One of those seniors, forward Brooke Harrington, sat out on Thursday after she fractured her left wrist during the win over Pleasant Valley on Tuesday. Without her, Ankeny was able to create numerous chances, but could never find the net.
“We had 20 shots or something ridiculous like that, and we didn’t score,” Brown said. “We didn’t do enough to win. I don’t know how stuff like that happens. It just takes one shot. (Schimmer) didn’t do anything for 84 minutes and then has one shot. It’s our fault for not putting the game away. Good players like that are going to hurt you.
“We just didn’t do enough to score and end the game,” he added.
