After dropping two straight games against elite opponents, Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer coach Brian Duax said his team can grow from those experiences.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars found themselves in a different situation on Saturday.
Centennial got goals from eight different players and rolled to an 8-0 victory over an outmanned squad from Bellevue (Neb.) West at the Council Bluffs Invitational. The Jaguars (3-2) scored six goals before halftime, then added two more in the second half.
“It was very disappointing that we didn’t get to play Creighton Prep on Friday night,” Duax said of the game that was cancelled due to bad weather. “That would have been another super high caliber game that would have challenged the boys, but it was also nice to get some rest and not have to play three games in three days (after losing to Omaha Skutt Catholic on Thursday).”
Haris Smajlovic had a goal and an assist in the win. Rashidi Ishibwami also found the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The other goals were scored by Lucas De La Cuba, Parker Lundberg, Amel Islamovic, Bradon Packebush, Logan Page and Nicolas De La Cuba.
Brock Brazeau had two assists for Centennial. Other assists were recorded by Andrew Heckenlaible and Austin Lundberg.
Goalkeepers Andrew Nelson and Noah Sleeper combined on the shutout. Sleeper had the team’s only save.
Duax said he removed his starters early in the game.
“Once we got ahead 2-0 or 3-0, then all of the sudden the other team started whacking us badly–just kicking our guys,” he said. “So I basically benched all of our starters for three-quarters of the game. I didn’t want them to get hurt. It was not good in that regard.”
Duax relied on his reserves to maintain a high level of play.
“We talked about not lowering our standards,” he said. “It was good to get some minutes for the reserves, and then the game wasn’t quite as one-sided. At least the opponent had a little more chance to keep the ball, and therefore they weren’t kicking us as much as they were in the first 10-15 minutes. It was great to get our guys some experience so we can rely on them a little more as the season goes on.”
Centennial will play a CIML Conference game at No. 6 Valley (5-1) on Tuesday. The Tigers posted three straight shutouts at the Valley Invitational over the weekend after suffering their first loss, 1-0, in overtime at Waukee Northwest on Tuesday.
“You’re just going to have to be prepared to battle every time you have a CIML game, and that’s going to happen pretty regularly now,” Duax said. “It will absolutely be a battle on Tuesday.”