The Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer team bounced back from a loss on Friday to win its bracket in the Tournament of Champions at Bettendorf.
The third-ranked Jaguars closed out the tournament on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Pewaukee (Wis.). They are now 9-3 on the season.
“I think both teams started a little sluggish, but we were able to gain control of most of the game,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “It was a good opportunity to simulate the toll a long state run has on our bodies, and we emphasized the importance of a focus on principles of play in these types of games.”
Adeline Kroska scored a goal in the first half to put Centennial ahead. Josie Ehlinger then added another goal in the second half, her second of the weekend.
“I felt relieved,” said Ehlinger. “I worked hard for those goals.”
Ava Martin earned an assist on Ehlinger’s goal. She has accounted for 10 of the team’s 17 assists this season.
“I remembered Ava getting on the ball and taking it to the end line, which was our key, and I held my run and found an opening, and she just hit back, and I hit it in,” Ehlinger said.
Junior midfielder Emily Conger played a key role in the win, Allen said.
“Emily just had an incredible effort in this game,” he said. “She made a lot of runs into the attack and tracked back to help her team. We just kept thinking on the sideline, ‘What an incredible work rate.’ After the game, her teammates acknowledged this with a little shoutout about her effort. She had a strong showing in the tournament.”
Conger called it a team effort.
“We played with a lot of grit, especially in this (last) game,” she said. “We played for each other as a team to pull out the win. As far as the tournament went, it was a good opportunity to try new things on the field and see different looks from different players. We found that our bench is really deep. The level does not drop.”
On Friday, the Jaguars opened the tournament with a 4-3 loss to Divine Savior (Wis.). The Holy Angels overcame an early 2-0 deficit with four unanswered goals.
“We came out well and capitalized on our first two chances on goal,” Allen said. “Things were looking pretty good at this point despite it being a fairly wide open game. Unfortunately, a couple of lapses allowed them to crawl back into the game and gain momentum with each goal. We struggled with some of their runs from midfield, but this will be a good learning experience for us.”
Evie Boyle and Addison Fair scored Centennial’s first two goals. Martin later set up Ehlinger for another goal to earn her second assist of the game, closing the gap to 4-3.
“We earned a corner kick at the end of regulation, but Divine Savior proved up for the challenge,” Allen said. “And they did a nice job making it harder for us throughout the game with their physicality.”
Centennial rebounded later on Friday with a 4-0 win over Kaneland (Ill.). Fair had a hat trick for the Jaguars, who scored two goals in each half.
Martin also had a goal, her team-leading seventh of the season, as well as two assists. Mady Postma added another assist.
“It was an all-around good team win with everyone having a chance to play,” Allen said. “We really challenged our attacking players to hunt for space and make runs after the first game, and Addison was very effective around the goal. Emily really stood out as having a high work rate despite not making the scoring statistics. Overall, we just thought she played really well.”
Conger said she learned something over the course of the three games.
“I learned that I could do more than I thought I could,” she said. “Whenever you think you’re tired, there is a little extra in the tank that you can give to your team.”
Centennial will host a non-conference game against No. 13 Ames (7-3-1) on Monday.