Sometimes, a loss can pay dividends down the road.
That was the attitude of Ankeny girls’ soccer coach Gavin Mason following the fifth-ranked Hawkettes’ 2-0 setback at No. 2 Valley on Tuesday.
“I’m proud of the way we battled, and looking at the big picture this is a great early-season experience to learn from,” said Mason. “We will certainly take some things that we saw in this game and look to improve on them, and hopefully we can keep working to get better every day.”
Valley (1-0) took control of the CIML Conference game in the second half, when Ella Clayton and Bryn Kenworthy each scored a goal for the Tigers. Mia Kate Morrow and Kaitlyn Nguyen each added an assist.
Valley used 17 players in the game, including seven sophomores and two freshmen. Clayton, Morrow and Nguyen are all sophomores, while Kenworthy is a freshman.
“Obviously, Valley is ranked No. 2 for a reason,” Mason said. “They are a really good team and deserve credit for what they were able to do. They have some great individuals who caused us some problems, and ultimately we made a couple of mistakes early in the second half that they were able to capitalize on.”
Ankeny (1-1) scored three goals in the first half of its season-opening victory against No. 11 Cedar Falls on Thursday. The Hawkettes went scoreless in the second half of that game, then were unable to generate a consistent attack on Tuesday.
Valley made four saves to record a clean sheet.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” Mason said. “I think it took us too long to get settled into the tempo of the game. We let them dictate a bit too much, rather than playing the way we wanted to. I thought throughout the second half we actually settled down and played with a bit more composure; we just weren’t able to create enough clear chances.”
Ankeny will host a pair of games this weekend in the Crosstown Invitational. The Hawkettes will meet No. 4 Linn-Mar (Marion) (2-1) on Friday at 5 p.m., then will face Class 2A No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock (1-0) on Saturday at noon.
