The Ankeny boys’ soccer team was less than a minute away from having its season come to an end on Wednesday at Northview.
But the eighth-ranked Hawks never lost their faith.
Austin Lundberg scored an equalizer on a free kick with 52 seconds left, and Ankeny went on to beat visiting Linn-Mar (Marion), 2-1, in a shootout in a Class 4A substate final.
The Hawks (11-8), who won the penalty kicks by a 5-3 margin, advanced to next week’s state tournament in Des Moines.
“I’m so excited. Two years in a row for me is pretty crazy,” said Lundberg, who qualified for state last season while playing for Ankeny Centennial. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Linn-Mar (10-7) was clinging to a 1-0 lead when the Lions were called for a foul outside the box in the final minute of regulation.
“I was a little scared,” Ankeny junior Landon Benge said of the clock winding down. “But then we got a free kick, and it went in I guess.”
Lundberg blasted the ball off the head of a Linn-Mar defender. It deflected past goalkeeper Zachary Turner and into the top right corner of the net.
It was Lundberg’s seventh goal of the season–and by far his most important.
“This is my first year taking free kicks, so I never had that experience really,” Lundberg said. “I was like, ‘I’m putting it on target, and if it goes in, it goes in.’ And then it went it. It was pretty crazy.”
Lundberg nearly had the game-winner about 3 minutes into the first overtime, but Turner made a great save for the Lions. He then stopped another shot less than 4 minutes later after Jackson Roberts broke free after a nifty pass from Benge.
The game eventually went to a shootout, Ankeny’s fifth of the season. The Hawks had split the previous four decisions.
Lundberg converted the opening kick to put his team ahead, but Linn-Mar’s Maxwell Cassidy answered with a goal. After Ankeny’s Gannon Ripley scored on the next kick, the Hawks got a huge save from goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff, who stopped a shot by Elliott Setrum.
“We’ve been working on that a lot at practice,” said Dockendorff, a sophomore. “Our goalie coach, Jake, has really helped us out, giving us cues on how to save the pens. I’m really thankful for him.”
Dylan Gloviak and Benge converted Ankeny’s next two kicks, but each time the Lions responded with a goal. That set the stage for Keaton Kobow, who then delivered the game-winning goal for the Hawks.
“It feels amazing,” said Kobow. “There were a lot of nerves on that last kick, but I was 100 percent sure I was going to make it. I was ready to celebrate.”
Ankeny avenged an earlier 3-2 overtime loss to the Lions, who took the lead on Wednesday when Nate Fish scored a goal off an assist by Kadin Fry in the first half.
“The ball was crossed in, and (Fish) had a one-time finish that went in to the top right,” Dockendorff said. “It was a great finish, but we moved on. We came back and fought hard the rest of the game.”
Benge scored both of his team’s goals in the first meeting against Linn-Mar and also had a brace in the substate semifinal against Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Monday. He was held without a goal on Wednesday, but didn’t seem to mind.
“I felt like they had one (defender) on my back most of the game,” Benge said. “But my teammates all stepped up, we all stepped up together, and that’s what got us the win. It feels amazing. Last year we had a rough (4-10) season, and now we’re bouncing back like this.”
Coach Trevor Fuccio guided the Hawks to the state tournament in his first season.
“All the work that we’ve put in as a team has really paid off,” Dockendorff said. “The seniors–we’re really doing them right. I’m really proud of us.”
Seventh-seeded Ankeny will play No. 2 Dowling Catholic (17-2) in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on Field 6 at Cownie Park. The Maroons advanced with a 5-0 victory over Ames.
The Hawks dropped a 1-0 decision at Dowling on April 19. Jonathan Mendez scored the game’s only goal for the Maroons–one of his 11 on the season.
“We’re really excited,” Kobow said. “We’re hoping to go to the finals.”
The winner will play No. 3 Waukee Northwest (13-3) or No. 6 Pleasant Valley (14-2) in the semifinals on May 31 at either Drake Stadium or Mediacom Stadium. The championship game will be played on June 1 at Mediacom Stadium.
