The Waukee Northwest boys’ soccer team has lost only four games in each of the previous three seasons–all but one of them decided by just a lone goal.
On Tuesday, the Wolves found themselves in unfamiliar territory.
Visiting Ankeny Centennial scored three goals in the first 14 minutes and went on to post a 5-0 victory in the CIML Conference opener for both teams. It was the worst loss ever for the Wolves (2-1), surpassing a 4-1 loss to Johnston in their inaugural season in 2021-22.
“Northwest is still very good,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “Now are they in a little bit of a rebuild? Maybe. But I’m guessing they’re still going to finish top 10 in the state and probably top four in the CIML. They’re a good side, but we’ve gone two and a half or three weeks now without playing anybody but ourselves. Our boys were hungry–no question about it. They were ready to play somebody with a different logo on their chest than ours.”
Tate Duax scored a goal about 90 seconds into the game to ignite the Jaguars. He later recorded a pair of assists.
“Northwest likes to push guys forward, and I don’t care who it is, if it’s 1 v 2 and Tate is the 1, we have a chance,” said Duax, Tate’s father. “We were trying to exploit them in the 1 v 2 battle, and Tate was clearly the better guy all night long.”
Centennial’s Mason Goble scored off an assist from Lucas De la Cuba at the 10-minute mark. De la Cuba then scored about 4 minutes later to make it 3-0.
Garrett Christensen scored the first of his two goals later in the half to give the Jaguars a commanding 4-0 advantage. He was assisted by Brock Brazeau.
Christensen completed the scoring with another goal in the second half.
“We’ve been saying all year, ‘How far we go is going to hinge on us,'” Duax said. “If our attitude and our effort stay where they were in the first half, we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
Centennial goalkeeper Sawyer Goble made five saves in the win. It was the sophomore’s first varsity start.
“It was a really good defensive battle,” Duax said. “Sawyer had two or three big-time saves, and our backline was stout. Ben (Ridlen) and Mace (Nithang) are our leaders back there, and they were really, really good.”
Northwest was coming off a pair of wins over Des Moines Hoover (1-0) and Des Moines North (7-0).
“I’m pretty sure they were shell-shocked,” Duax said of the Wolves.
Centennial will play two games at the Council Bluffs Lewis Central Invitational this weekend. The Jaguars will meet the host Titans (2-1) on Friday at 5:30 p.m., then will face Omaha (Neb.) Skutt Catholic (2-0) on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
