Ty Duax wanted to play one more game with the seniors on the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team.
Unfortunately, he won’t get that chance.
The fifth-ranked Jaguars ended their season on Friday with a tense 2-1 loss to No. 3 Waukee Northwest in the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament at Cownie Park. They finished with a 16-4 record.
“It sucks,” Duax said. “All these seniors are like my brothers. We are going home empty-handed.”
Northwest (10-10), the No. 8 seed, will play for the Class 3A crown in its inaugural season. The Wolves will face fourth-ranked Pleasant Valley (18-1), the defending champion, on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“Gut wrenching is what that is,” Centennial coach Brian Duax said of the loss. “(We) created plenty of chances to score goals. We didn’t score goals, and we gave up two stupid ones to be honest.”
All of the scoring came in the second half. After Northwest took a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute, the Jaguars tried desperately to score an equalizer as the clock was winding down and were awarded a penalty kick with less than 2 minutes to play.
However, the referees eventually changed the PK to a direct kick.
“The referee backed out of a PK that was a PK,” coach Duax said. “The ball didn’t bounce our way.”
Ty Duax took the direct kick just outside the box. His attempt sailed over the crossbar.
Shortly thereafter, the game ended.
“I thought it was going to be a PK,” Ty Duax said. “We would have been in overtime right now. But that’s the way the cookie crumbled.”
It was one of several calls that didn’t sit well with coach Duax, who was already furious that Northwest was given the No. 8 seed after the Wolves forfeited a bunch of victories for using an ineligible player. On Wednesday, Northwest posted a 2-1 win over top-seeded Ankeny in the quarterfinals.
“Every coach in the CIML wants to say it. Nobody will, but I will,” coach Duax said. “It’s complete (BS) that they played an ineligible player, and their only punishment is being the 8 seed. The (Iowa High School Athletic Association) set a very big precedent that I may play an ineligible player every year now because it’s OK. You get to host the substate and then you get to be the 8 seed at the state tournament. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nobody really wants to say that, but every coach feels it.
“It’s unfortunate, and that takes nothing away from their players. They won the game fair and square,” he added.
After a scoreless first half, Northwest took the lead in the 45th minute. Centennial goalkeeper Andrew Nelson deflected two shots before Abdullah Iqbal hammered home the rebound.
The scoring chance came after the referees appeared to miss a foul on the Wolves.
A few minutes later, Centennial nearly tied the score on a header by Rashidi Ishibwami off a cross by Andrew Heckenlaible. But Northwest goalkeeper Andrew Cork made a save–one of several that he had in the game.
“I’m proud of the boys for the way they battled,” coach Duax said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the net. It’s unfortunate.”
The Jaguars’ only goal came in the 69th minute. Ty Duax found the net for his 16th goal of the season.
“It was a big ball, and Andrew somehow got it,” Ty Duax said. “He beat one player and put it into me. I shot it with my left (foot) and the keeper saved it, but luckily it fell to me and I (scored).”
It took less than a minute for Northwest to regain the lead. The Wolves played a big ball over the top to Cole Schrage, who found the net for his 20th goal of the year.
“It was unlucky,” Ty Duax said. “It was a great ball for whoever played it. There were a lot of things going on, and it just fell perfectly for whoever scored that. It was a good finish.”
Coach Duax said the Jaguars had some miscommunication on the play.
“I think we were unsure about what defensive formation we were going back to,” he said. “There was a big ball over the top, and we had miscommunication between the center back and goalkeeper that created an opportunity for them.”
