The Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer teams had something in common on Saturday.
The Hawks and Jaguars both lost a non-conference game to visiting Pleasant Valley.
The Spartans traveled to central Iowa for a pair of contests at Northview Middle School and opened the day with a 3-2 win over seventh-ranked Ankeny in a shootout.
“It was an inconsistent 80 minutes,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio. “Our performance was really good at times, but just not for the entire 80.”
The Spartans (9-2) then followed with a 1-0 victory over Centennial. They scored the game’s only goal early in the second half on a penalty kick after the Jaguars were called for a handball in the box.
“It was a very lackluster performance,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax, whose team dropped to 5-9 on the season. “We had no energy and no excitement. It was just overall bad.”
Against Ankeny, Pleasant Valley scored a late goal to tie it at 2-2 at the end of regulation. The Spartans then won the shootout by a 4-3 margin.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half on a cross by Andrew Loder. After Pleasant Valley knotted the score before halftime, Ankeny regained a 2-1 lead on a runout goal by Landon Benge in the second half.
But the Spartans then responded with an equalizer in the final minutes, setting the stage for the ensuing shootout. Ankeny’s record is now 8-6.
“I’m looking forward to some time to get things sorted between now and our next game,” Fuccio said.
The Hawks and Jaguars will meet on Friday in a CIML Conference game, following the girls’ contest. The Ankeny Derby will be played at Northview.