(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
No matter how the extra time golden goal went in, it was going to be either the game that got away from Ankeny or the major comeback effort that fell just short for visiting Des Moines Lincoln.
But in back-to-back seasons, the Hawks will now head into the boys’ Class 4A state soccer tournament off the back of a dramatic victory in a Class 4A substate final.
Only one goal was scored in nearly 76 minutes of play on Thursday, but three goals within the final 4 minutes led to an extra time golden goal from junior Cal Wahlberg to give the eighth-ranked Hawks a 3-2 win over No. 10 Lincoln in the Substate 8 championship game.
“Lincoln is a quality team and anytime you’re playing with your season on the line, it’s always going to be a battle,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio. “I’m really proud of the boys for getting across the line.”
A year ago, Ankeny reached the state tournament after defeating Linn-Mar (Marion) in a shootout in the substate final. The Hawks were less than a minute from defeat in that game until Austin Lundberg scored the tying goal on a free kick.
Even if it’s not how they would prefer it to be, the Hawks just have a knack for winning these do-or-die games in dramatic fashion.
It seemed like they were just going to be working their way to a 1-0 victory over Lincoln as they struggled to finish off plenty of prime scoring chances in both halves.
Leading scorer Landon Benge was the one that gave them the initial lead after Ankeny’s standout forward managed to break through in the 30th minute.
He controlled a long ball, got past his defender and then finished a shot past Lincoln goalkeeper Carlos Joya-Redondo for his 25th goal of the season.
“I saw the center back overcommitting,” Benge said. “He was just running too hard, so I just took a touch around him and slotted it in.”
Not getting an insurance goal ended up almost costing the Hawks in the end because with just under 4 minutes left to play, Lincoln managed to finally beat junior goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff to tie the game. But the Railsplitters’ celebration was short lived.
The Hawks got a corner kick with 2:29 left and eventual extra time hero Wahlberg lined up to take the kick.
Dylan Gloviak spent most of the game helping lead Ankeny’s backline, but the senior defensive back headed Wahlberg’s corner kick and found the back of the net for what the Hawks were hoping to be the game-winning goal. It came on Wahlberg’s 18th assist of the year.
“It’s my senior year, it’s my last game on this field, and the ball was so perfect from Cal,” Gloviak said. “Just the right place at the right moment. He put it right on me.”
Those hopes ended just a minute later when the Railsplitters scored their second game-tying goal with about 90 seconds left to play.
For the second year in a row, the Hawks had to play in extra time, but they weren’t going to wait all the way until penalty kicks to hoist up the banner.
They successfully defended some early pressure in extra time from Lincoln’s talented frontline, and Wahlberg found himself right back to the corner for another corner kick.
“I’m feeling super happy,” Wahlberg said. “I wasn’t able to play in these games last year and I was hurt, so it just feels great that I get to be a part of it and impact it.”
While he didn’t have the same success as the previous corner that resulted in the Gloviak goal, the punch out put the ball right back on his foot well outside the box.
Wahlberg scanned the box, liked what he saw and played the ball right back in.
There was no need to question if it was a cross or an intended shot, all that matters is that Wahlberg successfully pinpointed the ball just inside the right post for Ankeny’s golden goal.
“I just saw a lot of our players clustered on the back side,” Wahlberg said of the game-winner that ended Lincoln’s season at 11-5-1. “So I figured to just put the ball in a dangerous area, and it happened to go in. Once I heard the post and in, it was just pure joy.”
Benge and Gloviak were just two of the seniors that got to soak in the final home victory before getting to help lead the Hawks in one more hopeful state tournament run.
“It means everything to me,” Benge said. “We’ve been in the state tournament three of my four years. We’re a great team, and we’re always going to be a great team. Ankeny’s one of the best teams in the state and will always be.”
The next task for the Hawks is constructing a pathway to make a deep run in the state tournament with the quarterfinal round being one of the big hurdles to clear.
Both of Ankeny’s last two state tournament appearances ended with close losses in the quarterfinals.
Last year, the Hawks had a lead slip away before CIML rival Dowling Catholic stole a 3-2 victory with a goal late in the game. They lost to Waukee Northwest, 2-1, in the 2022 season after the Wolves scored the game-winner on a penalty kick.
“We’ve just got to keep our composure and be willing to play the style that we want to,” Fuccio said. “I feel like in the quarterfinals over the years I’ve been involved, we’ve always gotten a little too tightened up because of the moment. But these guys have a ton of experience, and I’ll back them against anybody we play.”
Ankeny (11-5-2) will now play No. 2 Des Moines Roosevelt (17-1-1) in a Class 4A quarterfinal on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Mediacom Stadium, which will also host the semifinal and final rounds later in the week. The Roughriders advanced with a 2-0 win over Linn-Mar.
Roosevelt’s only loss came in a 3-2 defeat at Dowling to open the season on April 1. Since battling Ames to a 1-1 draw on April 25, the Roughriders have won nine straight games and allowed only one goal during that stretch.
“We’ve been in situations to win it both times, and it’s come down to the last seconds in both quarterfinal games,” Gloviak said. “We’ve just got to fix it at the very end, and we’ll be alright.”