The Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team earned the rematch that it wanted.
The 10th-ranked Jaguars posted a 3-1 victory over Council Bluffs Lincoln in a Class 4A substate semifinal on Monday at Waukee Northwest. They raised their record to 8-5 and advanced to Wednesday’s substate final at No. 4 Northwest (14-3) at 7 p.m.
The Wolves followed Centennial’s win with a 3-0 triumph over Marshalltown.
“We were somewhat uninspired but even being uninspired, we were clearly the better team and were in complete control,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “(Northwest) looked very uninspired as well. But we know what we’re going to get with them on Wednesday.”
The Wolves posted a 2-1 win at Centennial on May 12. They also defeated the Jaguars by that same score in last year’s Class 3A semifinals.
“We definitely played a different formation the last time than we’ll play on Wednesday,” Duax said. “Hopefully, we’ll come out and play our best game, and maybe they’ll be overconfident.”
Parker Lundberg, Austin Lundberg and Andrew Heckenlaible each had a goal for the Jaguars in Monday’s win.
“The Lundberg brothers tonight were our engine. They were really good,” Duax said. “I think they either scored or had the assist on all three goals.”
Council Bluffs Lincoln (12-6) had won nine of its previous 10 games. The only loss during that stretch came to No. 1 Valley, 2-0, on May 6.
“To go 12-5 in that part of the state is still a good record, but it’s not the CIML, that’s for sure,” Duax said.
The Lynx scored on a free kick in the second half, but that was about the only time that they were dangerous.
“I don’t even know if (goalkeeper) Andrew Nelson touched the ball in the first half,” Duax said. “I thought we were in complete control in the second half as well, but we just didn’t finish our chances.”