It’s time for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team to make some adjustments.
The 10th-ranked Jaguars dropped a 2-0 decision at No. 1 Valley on Tuesday for their second loss in the last three games. It was the sixth clean sheet for the Tigers, who have won 11 straight games since a season-opening loss at Ames on April 1.
“We are now to the phase of our season where teams are doing their scouting reports and trying to eliminate some of the things that we have been good at in the first nine games,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “They’re trying to take those away, and we are lacking creativity in that final third. I think we were level with Valley or had more touches than them in the attacking third, but if you look at the shots or the shots on goal, they were far greater than we were.
“We just need to be a little more cleaner with the final touch or the final pass. We have to be willing to take a chance that isn’t perfect,” he added.
Kenan Sakanovic and Pierre Castro each scored a goal as the Tigers improved to 5-0 in the CIML Conference and 11-1 overall. Centennial’s records dropped to 2-3 and 6-4.
Despite the loss, Duax had nothing but praise for freshman goalkeeper Will Kreuger and the Jaguars’ defense. Kreuger finished with seven saves.
“After the game, I gave big-time kudos to our back line and Will,” Duax said. “They played 78 minutes of fantastic soccer.”
Unfortunately, a couple of lapses proved to be costly. The first one came at the 37:11 mark, when Sakanovic scored his sixth goal of the season.
“That was just an effort goal,” Duax said. “We tried to play a ball back to our keeper, and it was kind of an under-hit ball and 99 percent of forwards aren’t going to go chase that. But kudos to the kid who did. He chased it down and scored a goal. Just sheer effort.”
Duax told his team at halftime that the first 5 to 10 minutes of the second half would be crucial to the outcome. The Jaguars needed to change the momentum, but instead it was Valley that scored another goal.
Castro found the net at the 42:08 mark off a cross for his sixth goal of the season.
“We didn’t swing hard enough, and Valley sure did,” Duax said. “Kudos to them on the second goal–it was a good goal.”
The Tigers now boast five players with at least four goals.
“I wouldn’t say any of their front six are spectacular players, but they are masters of interchanging positions and putting you under pressure,” Duax said. “There were probably 50 to 100 balls that their backs put over our heads and put us under pressure. Were 90 percent of them dangerous? Nope. But that still leaves 10 percent that are dangerous.”
Centennial, meanwhile, was unable to reciprocate.
“We played another different formation today, and it worked,” Duax said. “We were definitely better than them in the midfield and in the back line. But we’re a team that likes to play pretty soccer, and sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and be willing to get a little dirty to score a goal. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It still counts.
“If we can figure out how to score goals in multiple ways, we’re going to be tough. I was very pleased with the way the boys played tonight. The game plan worked. The only thing we lacked was putting the ball in the back of the net,” he added.
The Jaguars will host a non-conference game against Mason City (3-5-2) on Thursday.