Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer coach Brian Duax will be relying more than ever on his son Ty.
Ty Duax, a senior midfielder, is one of just five returning starters from last year’s team that posted a 10-6 record and reached the Class 4A semifinals. The Jaguars graduated several key players and will also have to replace all-state forward Andrew Heckenlaible, a St. Louis recruit who graduated early and joined the Minnesota United FC U19 Academy team.
“We have lots of newcomers with some varsity experience who will need to step up and contribute,” said coach Duax.
Ty Duax will try to close out his career with a fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament. The Western Illinois recruit holds the school record with 38 career assists.
Duax has also scored 31 goals for a career total of 100 points. He is a three-time first-team all-conference pick and a two-time all-state selection.
Centennial’s other returning starters are senior defender Beau Brazeau, sophomore midfielder/forward Lucas De La Cuba, sophomore midfielder Ben Ridlen and senior goalkeeper Andrew Nelson.
Brazeau was part of a defensive unit that posted five shutouts last season, including a 2-0 victory over top-ranked Valley in the Class 4A quarterfinals that avenged an earlier 2-1 loss to the Tigers. He was named to the CIML Conference third team.
Ridlen contributed three assists a year ago. He received all-conference honorable mention along with Nelson, who made 96 saves while allowing 20 goals.
Like Ridlen, De La Cuba made an immediate impact as a freshman. He scored three goals and had three assists.
Senior forward Logan Page, junior midfielder Amel Islamovic and sophomore midfielder Brock Brazeau are among the team’s other returnees. They all saw a lot of action last season.
Page was the Jaguars’ fourth-leading scorer with five goals. Islamovic had one goal and three assists, while Brazeau added one goal and two assists.
“Our training will officially start on Monday,” Duax said. “We really didn’t do anything over spring break.”
Centennial will open the season on March 28 with a conference game at Urbandale. The Jaguars will then play three games in the Iowa City West Invitational on March 29-30.
“The early part of the season will be a great test for a lot of newcomers,” Duax said. “We’ll be playing a few teams who were at the state tournament in first few weeks of the year.”
The state tournament will be held May 29-June 1 at Cownie Park in Des Moines. That’s where the Jaguars hope to again finish the season.
“The goals always remain the same,” Duax said. “Our sights are always set on a state championship.”