It was a rollercoaster weekend for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team.
Centennial played two games in the Council Bluffs Lewis Central Invitational and came away with a split. After posting an impressive 4-0 victory over Omaha (Neb.) South on Friday night, the Jaguars dropped a 1-0 decision to unbeaten Lewis Central on Saturday.
“We’re Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax, whose team is now 3-6 on the season. “We played the third-ranked team in Nebraska and absolutely manhandled them and were in complete control. But then on Saturday, we were just flat. I don’t know if the boys thought because of the win against Omaha South that Lewis Central was just going to let us roll over them, but it was very apparent early in the game that that was not going to be the case.”
Friday’s game marked the Centennial debut for sophomore Tate Duax, who joined the team earlier in the week after spending the last 18 months with the Austin FC Academy. The son of coach Duax, he contributed a goal and an assist in the Jaguars’ win.
Brock Brazeau also had a goal and an assist. Beau Brazeau and Ethan Sextro scored the team’s other goals, while Ben Ridlen, Lucas De La Cuba and Ty Duax each added an assist.
Centennial built a 2-0 lead at halftime and then added two more goals in the second half.
“We created goal-scoring opportunities and scored goals and kept a clean sheet,” coach Duax said. “It was like, ‘Oh, maybe we’ve turned the corner.’ It was fantastic.”
Friday’s game was played at Wickersham Stadium. Saturday’s contest was played on the smaller field at Lewis Central, where the Jaguars struggled to get their attack going.
“The field is 62 yards wide,” Duax said. “I didn’t realize it was that tiny until we got there, and it just didn’t allow us the time and space that we like to have. But give Lewis Central credit. They made things very difficult for us and defended really well.”
Gabriel Castro scored the game’s only goal in the second half off an assist by Logan Vargas. The Titans are now 7-0 on the season.
Duax is hoping to take the positives away from Friday’s game rather than dwell on the disappointment of Saturday’s loss.
“We created 30ish chances in the final third which produced four goals, which is probably more than we have had in many games this year,” he said. “That tells me that if we can get mentally stable and consistent, we can go make another run. But if we can’t stay mentally stable and consistent with our effort and our attitude and our work ethic, anybody can beat us.”
The Jaguars will host three opponents this week, beginning with Tuesday’s CIML Conference game against Valley. The Tigers are 0-2 in the league and 5-3 overall, but they posted three consecutive shutouts in their tournament over the weekend.
“The CIML is an absolute buzzsaw,” Duax said. “There are no easy games. We’re going to have to be locked in.”