Ankeny girls’ soccer coach Simon Brown did not want to postpone Tuesday’s game against visiting Southeast Polk.
“I know a lot of the schools in the area cancelled their games because of the weather, but it turned out to be a decent evening,” said Brown. “It was a little breezy, but we were happy to get the game in and to get the win against a top-10 team.”
Alli Macke and Isabel Squires each scored a goal as the fourth-ranked Hawkettes posted a 2-0 victory over No. 7 Southeast Polk. The win came just 24 hours after Ankeny suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss at Cedar Falls.
“I think tonight was really important for us to prove that we are a good team and that we won’t let one bad game define us,” said Macke. “We came out with a lot of energy and played much better together.”
The win improved Ankeny to 3-0 in the CIML Conference and 5-2 overall. The Rams’ records fell to 1-2 and 6-2.
It was the second straight loss for the Rams, who had dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 1 Waukee Northwest on Friday.
“We definitely needed this (win),” Brown said. “It was a tough 24 hours getting over the result from Monday. It was good to get out there.”
The Hawkettes took a 1-0 lead in the final seconds of the first half after Southeast Polk was called for a handball in the box. Macke then converted the ensuing penalty kick with a shot into the right side of the net.
“It means a lot to know that Simon has the confidence in me to step up and make my PK even after (Monday’s) game,” Macke said. “Him believing in me helps me to believe in myself and be a better player.”
In the loss at Cedar Falls, Macke took a penalty kick with about 12 minutes left, but her shot to the left side was batted away by goalkeeper Alexis Montgomery to keep the game scoreless. The Tigers eventually scored the winning goal with 3 minutes to go.
“Alli took a lot of the responsibility for the loss, and it wasn’t fair,” Brown said. “We did the same thing with Emma (Gott) earlier this season after she missed a PK against (Dallas Center-Grimes), and then we had her take the PK the next day against Ames. So when we had a chance for another PK, we called out Macke’s name. We rolled the dice because these kids are so important to us. And it was great that she was able to give us the lead, because we had created a lot of chances and definitely deserved to lead.”
Ankeny then scored an insurance goal about 2 minutes into the second half. Squires found the net after the Rams were unable to clear a throw-in pass from Gott, who was credited with an assist.
Squires squeezed the ball into a narrow gap between Southeast Polk goalkeeper Alea Wolfe and the right post.
“It was great to keep our momentum going with that goal,” Brown said. “We had the wind with us in the second half, so a lot of that half was played in their half of the field because of the breeze.”
Ankeny went on to post its third shutout of the season. Goalkeeper Claire Close made three saves.
“We’ve only conceded five goals all year, and four of them came on free kicks,” Brown said. “We just need to stop fouling teams in our half to give them opportunities. Whatever happens in the run of play, we’ll deal with.”
The Hawkettes will host another conference game on Friday against No. 10 Dowling, which remains winless after losing to Johnston, 2-1, in overtime on Tuesday. The Maroons are 0-4 in the league and overall.
Ankeny will be looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to Dowling in a Class 3A quarterfinal at last year’s state tournament.
“We’re looking forward to the game and getting that (loss) back,” Brown said. “But we know Dowling is a good team. They’ve played a really tough schedule thus far, and we know they’re better than what their record shows.”
