The Ankeny girls’ soccer players had several days to reflect on last Saturday’s 2-1 loss to unranked Cedar Rapids Prairie.
The seventh-ranked Hawkettes were determined not to have another letdown.
On Friday, Ankeny got a pair of goals from Alli Macke and went on to post a 3-0 victory at Southeast Polk in a CIML Conference game.
“It was a little bit scrappy,” said Ankeny coach Simon Brown. “They’re a tough team, and they’ve got a couple of good players. They’re probably a little better than what their record shows.”
The Rams nearly took an early lead, which may have provided a spark for Ankeny.
“They probably should have been up 1-0, and that maybe woke our girls up a little bit,” Brown said. “We’re just not ok with losing a game after what happened on Saturday.”
The Hawkettes took a 1-0 lead when Kiersten Petersen scored off a corner kick. It was her second goal of the season.
Ankeny added another goal before halftime when Macke found the net. The Iowa recruit later scored again on a free kick from deep in the second half.
Macke leads the team with six goals, despite constant attention from opposing defenders.
“It’s hard for her to get free,” Brown said. “Southeast Polk was all over her tonight, but that’s ok. She has to find ways to rise above that to become a better player. She actually got a yellow card tonight for a foul, but it’s ok to play with a little bit of emotion at times to show that you care. I’m just glad she was able to get a couple of goals.”
Ankeny improved to 2-1-2 in the conference and 6-2-2 overall. The Rams’ records dropped to 0-5 and 2-5-2.
The Hawkettes will travel to Dowling Catholic on Friday for another conference game against the No. 12 Maroons (4-4).
