During the first half of Tuesday’s game against visiting Johnston, the Ankeny boys’ soccer team appeared to be in control of the CIML Conference contest.
The Hawks held a 1-0 lead before Johnston scored an equalizer right before halftime that changed the momentum of the game. The Dragons then added two more goals in the second half to post a 3-1 victory.
“I think the first 35 minutes or so we were doing pretty well,” said Ankeny coach Marcus Varnum. “We had a bit of control and some confidence. But then we had a little bit of mismanagement of the game in terms of decision making and what we were trying to do in certain areas of the field, and we allowed them to get back into it at a crucial part of the game. So we had to adjust our mentality at that point. When we came back out, they were ready to go and we were not. They caught the momentum, and we did not. The momentum just continued in Johnston’s favor the rest of the way, and that was disappointing.”
Kyron Pope, Cody Ngo and Nick Gourley each had a goal for Johnston, which also got a combined four saves from goalkeepers Will Safris and Carson Hanson. The Dragons improved to 2-0 in the conference and 3-2 overall.
Ankeny’s records dropped to 0-2 and 0-4.
“It’s been a learning year for some of our guys,” Varnum said. “We don’t have a lot of experience, and we’re definitely going through some growing pains.”
Junior Gannon Ripley scored the Hawks’ only goal on a penalty kick. He now has three goals on the season–all of them on PKs.
“We’ve been in every game. We’re close,” Varnum said. “But little moments can come back to you, and that’s what happened to us. Hopefully, we’ll learn from it.”
Ankeny will play three games in the Valley Invitational this weekend. The Hawks will face Norwalk (1-3) on Friday, then will meet Sioux City North (4-0) and Sioux City East (3-1) on Saturday.
“One of these next few games will hopefully be our first victory, and maybe that will get some momentum for us,” Varnum said.