Senior midfielder Brian Jimenez picked a good time to score his first goal of the season for the Ankeny boys’ soccer team.
Jimenez found the net in the second half for the game’s only goal to give the Hawks a 1-0 victory at Norwalk in a non-conference matchup on Saturday.
“It was a quality performance,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio, whose team improved to 5-3-1 on the season. “We created a ton of opportunities, had 19 shots, and had to earn the goal as we had the ball in the back of the net early on a close offsides call and should have had a PK early in the second half. Brian’s free kick was quality.”
Ten of Ankeny’s shots were on goal. Cal Wahlberg took eight of the shots, five of them on goal.
Norwalk goalkeeper Jacoby Robbins made five saves, but couldn’t stop Jimenez’s free kick. The Warriors, who are ranked fifth in Class 3A, dropped to 4-3-2.
“Norwalk has proven they are organized and hard to break down, and we had to remain patient,” Fuccio said.
The Hawks recorded their second clean sheet in the last four games. Goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff only had to make two saves.
“We didn’t allow many opportunities for Norwalk and we were defensively sound, especially in the second half,” Fuccio said.
Ankeny will host a non-conference game against Marshalltown (4-5-1) on Monday. The Bobcats are coming off a 10-0 win at Waterloo East on Tuesday.