The Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer players wore state tournament t-shirts with the motto “Leave it on the field” printed on the back of them.
That’s exactly what the eighth-ranked Jaguars did on Wednesday at Cownie Park.
Defending champion Centennial closed out its season with a 2-0 loss to No. 1 Waukee Northwest in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the state tournament. The Jaguars finished with a 10-7-1 record.
“It’s like I just said to them, ‘Be proud. You expended yourselves out there,'” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “It just didn’t go our way, and that’s sometimes how this game goes.”
Northwest (17-1) defeated the Jaguars for the second time this season. The Wolves posted a 3-1 win over Centennial on May 12.
In the rematch, Northwest showed why it was the No. 1 seed entering the tournament.
“They’re a quality team,” Allen said of the Wolves. “They have numerous unanimous all-conference picks on their team, and I think they were the only team that had that. And they have some players going on to do big things for them (at the college level). It was a good matchup. It’s a state tournament matchup you want to see. You can’t complain about that.”
Northwest dominated possession of the ball in the first half. In the 11th minute, Josie Vande Krol scored the only goal that the Wolves would need.
“They played a cross in, and me and one of my defenders tried to go up to clear the initial ball, but they got a touch on it and someone came in and finished it through the box,” said Centennial goalkeeper Kate Bergan.
The Jaguars struggled to generate much of an attack, but Allen felt like his team gained some momentum before the halftime break.
“Northwest was excellent and they finished that chance early in the game that they needed to get a goal, and that made us chase a little bit,” he said. “I thought we played ourselves into the game late in the first half, and then in the second half we were kind of knocking on the door and that PK was a backbreaker. I’m not sure what happened there, and maybe I didn’t see it. But we did all we could up to that point, and we regrouped and fought some more after that.”
The Wolves increased their lead to 2-0 when Alaina Steding converted a penalty kick in the 62nd minute. The deficit proved to be insurmountable.
Steding, an Iowa Western recruit, is one of five Northwest players planning to play in college. Colorado State signee Natalie Gallagher and Drake recruit Zoey Mahoney have combined for 45 goals this season.
“They’re a super talented team,” Bergan said of the Wolves. “I play club with a bunch of them, and they’re all really great people. They deserve to go on and just keep taking it to all the other teams.”
Friday’s semifinals will feature four CIML Conference schools. Northwest will play No. 4 Valley (15-3), while No. 3 Johnston (14-4) will face No. 7 Dowling Catholic (11-6).
Bergan is among the five Centennial seniors who played their final high school game on Wednesday. The others were Cady Compton, Ella Hudachek, Alanna Pennington and Averi Porter.
“We played as a team until the end,” Bergan said. “It’s really sad to leave, but I’m just really happy that I can finish it out with everyone else.”