Trevor Fuccio’s head coaching debut with the Ankeny boys’ soccer team produced a memorable result.
Overcoming the miserable weather conditions, the Hawks outlasted visiting Pella, 2-1, in a shootout in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
“It definitely feels good to get the win,” said Fuccio. “But I hope they’re not all this stressful.”
Ankeny won the shootout by a 6-5 margin. Tyler Woods scored the Hawks’ winning goal on their eighth kick.
Brian Jimenez, Landon Benge, Gannon Ripley, Henry McMillan and Andrew Loder also converted their penalty kicks for Ankeny, which got a clutch performance from sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff as well.
Dockendorff held Pella scoreless in the first half, then went to the bench as Ben Herwig took over in goal for the second half and the two overtime periods. Dockendorff replaced Herwig for the shootout.
“Jackson was huge tonight,” Fuccio said. “We’re splitting time with our keepers because we’ve got two contenders, and it was big for him to come off the bench and be ready to step in, especially in these cold conditions. I’m really proud of him.”
The game was played in frigid and windy conditions. The wind chill temperature dipped to about 15 degrees by the end of the contest.
Many of the players wore tights, long sleeves, gloves and hats in an effort to keep warm.
“Both teams had to play in it, so I’m glad the boys stepped up,” Fuccio said. “The conditions were a huge factor with the wind going across the field–it definitely changed how we wanted to play a little bit, but I really thought the guys battled hard. We talked during the preseason about playing with toughness, so it was good to see our toughness and grit with the boys today in these conditions.”
After a scoreless first half, Pella took a 1-0 lead when Teddy Apostolopoulos found the net for the Dutch in the second half. But Ankeny later got the tying goal from Jimenez to force overtime.
Jimenez, a junior midfielder/forward, started the game on the bench. He found the top left corner of the net from about 25 yards out after Pella tried to clear a free kick by the Hawks.
“Brian has been playing with a chip on his shoulder trying to get into the starting lineup,” Fuccio said. “The energy and the impact he had–not only the goal–but his overall performance was huge as well. He’s been down on himself a little bit because he wasn’t performing at the level he wanted to in the preseason, but he’s used that as motivation and tonight that helped us get over the edge.”
Ankeny will travel to eastern Iowa on Saturday for a pair of non-conference games. The Hawks will face Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Coe College at 11 a.m., then will play at Linn-Mar (Marion) at 3 p.m.