The Ankeny girls’ soccer team is hoping to get another shot at top-ranked Waukee Northwest.
The Wolves remained unbeaten with a 2-0 victory at No. 6 Ankeny on Tuesday. They also moved closer to the CIML Conference title, improving to 5-0 in the league and 9-0 overall.
The Hawkettes’ records dropped to 3-2 and 6-2.
“We know what we have to improve on,” said Ankeny coach Simon Brown. “The main thing is that we were able to lay a glove on them tonight and let them know that we’re here, and we did that tonight. If we were to play them again under a little different circumstances, it could go a little differently.”
Northwest took an early 1-0 lead on a penalty kick by Zoey Mahoney. The Wolves later sealed the win when Natalie Gallagher scored off an assist by Mahoney in the second half.
“They got a very suspicious penalty and scored, and then it was 1-0 for about 60 minutes,” Brown said. “We had a couple of half chances in the second half but didn’t score, then they went down to the other end and had a half chance and scored. The difference with the No. 1 team is when they get those half chances, they score those goals. That was kind of the difference tonight.”
The Hawkettes allowed two goals in a game for the first time in nearly two years.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night,” said Ankeny defender Jenna Pitz. “We didn’t possess as much as we wanted to. We need to play better as a team and finish our opportunities.”
Goalkeeper Victoria Spahn made 10 saves for the Wolves to keep a clean sheet.
“We had three or four really good looks the first 10 minutes of the game, and we missed a 1-on-1,” Brown said. “We also put some pressure on at the end. We missed a wide open shot off a corner kick.”
In the end, Northwest’s depth was too much to overcome.
“They’re the No. 1 team, and you can see why. They’re so deep,” Brown said. “They bring in five or six subs, and the level of play doesn’t drop at all. They’ve just got quality all over. They’re stacked, and they’re definitely the team to beat.”
Ankeny will compete in the Tournament of Champions on Friday and Saturday at Bettendorf.
