After posting a 5-0 victory over visiting Mason City on Thursday, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team was hoping to pick up another non-conference win on Friday.
Playing for the third time in four nights, the 10th-ranked Jaguars couldn’t find the net and dropped a 3-0 decision to visiting Pleasant Valley.
“The result against Mason City was probably slower than what it should have been, but it was a complete, dominant performance stat-wise and score-wise,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “I was hopeful that it was a step in the right direction for us, but then we had some regression tonight.”
The Spartans (9-1-1) took a 1-0 lead when Dominic Rebro converted a penalty kick at the 15:10 mark. He blasted a shot just inside the left post and just beyond the reach of diving Centennial goalkeeper Will Kreuger.
Pleasant Valley then added two more goals by Esai Vazquez and Darius Hulbert in the second half. The Jaguars dropped to 7-5 on the season.
“They’re a good side. Kudos to PV,” Duax said. “They were intense in winning 50/50 battles and running through us. They just beat us physically–not necessarily soccer-wise.
“I think they crossed the half line twice in the second half and scored on both of them. The other 39 minutes, we were in the attacking third and creating chances but just not finishing,” he added.
Centennial was held without a goal for the second time in three games. The Jaguars suffered a 2-0 loss at No. 1 Valley on Tuesday.
“It’s brutal, but that’s high school soccer,” Duax said of his team’s schedule. “You’re playing two to three games a week. Some of them are back-to-back. I’m definitely not using that as an excuse. We played good soccer. We just got punched in the face. The effort, attitude, intensity–(Pleasant Valley) had that in spades and we didn’t.”
On Thursday, the Jaguars scored four goals in a 10-minute stretch of the second half to break open a close game against Mason City. The Riverhawks dropped to 3-6-2 overall.
Centennial held a 1-0 lead at halftime. Andrew Kruger scored on a breakaway goal in the 26th minute for what proved to be the game-winner.
The Jaguars extended the margin to 2-0 on a penalty kick by Tate Duax in the 55th minute. It was his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
After Ethan Sextro scored off a rebound about 3 minutes later, Centennial got two more goals just 47 seconds apart with just under 15 minutes left to play. Brock Brazeau scored his fourth goal of the season to make it 4-0, then Elijah Dahn added another goal shortly thereafter.
Sextro also had an assist in the win. Other assists were recorded by Garrett Christensen, Maddox Rash and Brecken Allen.
The Jaguars will travel to Ames on Monday for another non-conference game against the No. 3 Little Cyclones (9-2-1), who posted a 2-1 victory at Des Moines Hoover on Friday.
