The Ankeny girls’ soccer team finally figured out a way to score against its crosstown rival.
All it took was a penalty kick.
Junior Camryn Dietz found the net at the 21:33 mark and the third-ranked Hawkettes went on to beat No. 6 Ankeny Centennial, 1-0, on Friday at Ankeny Stadium. It was Ankeny’s first win over the Jaguars since 2015 and its first goal in the series since 2018.
“It feels awesome,” said Dietz. “We’ve been working really hard for this all season. We haven’t won (much) since the split so this is something we’ve been working super hard for, and I’m really proud of the girls for putting up a performance.”
The win allowed Ankeny to move closer to the CIML Conference title. The Hawkettes improved to 6-0 in the league and 9-3 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 3-2 and 8-4.
The Jaguars had posted shutouts against Ankeny in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The 2020 meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19, and last year’s game ended in a 0-0 draw when it was called off in the 46th minute due to rain and lightning.
“I’ve been here since 2019, so I’ll take credit for the last five or six years. The ones before me, that’s on those guys,” joked Ankeny coach Simon Brown. “But the girls all knew that. It’s been a narrative here playing against Centennial, having to deal with all the losses. I spoke to Emma (Gott) and Liz (Proctor) and Taevah (Ganahi)–those guys are seniors and have been here four years and they have to hear the narrative. They see all the crap online that they can’t beat (the Jaguars). But we were the better team today. We had so many chances to win the game that I think we really deserved to win.”
It was a measure of revenge for Ankeny defender Kamryn Scheib, who joined the Hawkettes this season after previously focusing on club volleyball during the spring. Last fall, she played on the Ankeny volleyball team that lost three times to Centennial, including a five-set loss in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
“This feels great, especially after what happened in the volleyball season,” said Scheib. “It just feels good to get it back.”
Scheib and the other Ankeny defenders repeatedly shut down Centennial’s attacking forwards. The Jaguars generated only four shots on goal.
“We just really struggled with our energy in the first half a little bit, and they played like they absolutely wanted it,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “We tried to connect some passes in the second half, but it was a struggle to pull off some of the things we were trying to accomplish. We’ll go back to the drawing board, but you’ve got to give them credit. They came out and played hard from the beginning and did what they needed to do to secure that win.”
The Hawkettes scored the game’s only goal midway through the first half after Centennial was called for a handball in the box. Dietz then hammered the ensuing penalty kick into the top left corner of the net for her third goal of the season.
“We’ve had a lot of PK shootouts this year,” Dietz said. “It’s just composure with the ball and placing it.”
Centennial nearly tied the game with about 10 minutes left in the first half, when defender Maddison Balashaitis blasted a shot over the outstretched arm of Ankeny goalkeeper Claire Close. The ball deflected off the crossbar and into the net, but the referee disallowed the goal and instead awarded the Jaguars a corner kick.
“I thought I had it, but that’s the game,” said Balashaitis. “It’s unfortunate, so you’ve just got to keep playing through it. They called that it hit the yellow (crossbar), but I would say it hit the white and went in. But there’s nothing you can do.”
Ankeny also had some chances to extend its lead, but was unable to capitalize. Centennial goalkeeper Rylee Litchfield made a pair of saves to keep the Jaguars in the game.
“I felt like we should have had a couple more on the board at the end of the day, but I’m proud of how we defended,” Dietz said. “We can certainly clean it up a little more, but other than that we did excellent.”
Centennial was held without a goal for the third time in the last six games.
“I think Sophie (Loeffler) and I do a good job of just locking down the back and making sure we’re on the people we’re supposed to be on,” Scheib said.
While the Ankeny players celebrated afterwards, the Jaguars reflected on their first loss to their rival in almost a decade.
“It’s tough,” Balashaitis said. “We play with and against these girls all the time–they’ve been our friends forever. It’s definitely hard (to lose), but hopefully we’ll see them again (at the state tournament).”
Both teams will host a non-conference game on Monday. Centennial will face No. 14 Mason City (10-1), while the Hawkettes will meet North Polk (11-0)–the No. 2 squad in Class 2A.
