(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
With its original season opener against Iowa City West getting postponed, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ soccer team didn’t get a chance to have a tune-up game before co-hosting the Crosstown Invitational this weekend.
But that didn’t stop the third-ranked Jaguars from opening their season with a pair of victories over ranked opponents.
Centennial had five different players record goals when the Jaguars posted a 5-0 win over No. 12 Cedar Rapids Prairie on Friday before holding off No. 4 Linn-Mar (Marion), 2-1, on Saturday in a rematch from last year’s Class 3A semifinals.
“I’ve got to thank all the teams that made their way to the Crosstown Invite,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “We love hosting this event, and it gives teams a good chance to look at what challenges the season may hold for them. Big shoutout to Prairie for coming down and Linn-Mar for giving us that rematch from the state tournament.”
Despite graduating their top two goal scorers from last season in Ava Martin and Addison Fair, the Jaguars set the tone for the 2026 season by pouring in four goals in the first half against Prairie.
Grace Poskevich got things rolling by finding the top right corner of the goal in just the 5th minute for her first varsity goal.
In the 12th minute, senior Piper Zeman played a ball through to Mady Postma and the junior midfielder scored the first of her two goals in the tournament.
Postma returned to the Jaguars after recovering from ACL reconstruction that left her sidelined for her entire wrestling season.
“It’s just so fun because I love to compete in anything I do,” Postma said. “So when I didn’t get to wrestle this season, I just had my eyes set on soccer season. So it’s been so fun to come out here and compete.”
The Jaguars tallied two more goals before the end of the half with both goals coming from two of their freshmen.
Gabrielle Berger scored her first goal of the weekend off an Evie Boyle corner kick in the 18th minute. Kayle Pezzetti then scored off a cross from Zeman with about 40 seconds left in the half.
Senior captain Emmarie Becker put the cherry on top of the game in the 55th minute when she found the right spot behind the pack on a Berger corner kick and headed it in to complete the scoring.
“Both Evie and Piper had some great services and we were able to get on the end of them, Emmarie had a great header and (Berger) came in and scrapped a goal that dropped in front of their box,” Allen said. “That’s what we’re looking for. Are you willing to hunt in the box? I would’ve liked to see more of that (against Linn-Mar).”
The Jaguars wanted to carry the momentum from that win into Saturday morning when they were looking to get some revenge.
The Lions ended Centennial’s season just short of the Class 3A final when star forward Ali Roberts scored off a long range shot late in the game to give Linn-Mar a 2-1 victory. Waukee Northwest ultimately bested the Lions, 3-2, in the title game.
Centennial found itself with a couple of chances to strike first, and it ended up finding the first goal of the game in the 18th minute.
Boyle took a free kick from midfield and Berger was able to head the ball right in front of the Lions’ goalkeeper following a failed attempt to clear.
“That feeling when you score a goal this early in the season is really cool,” Berger said. “It’s a credit to the team, too. The ball was in there because of others who played great balls to get them in there.”
Centennial wasn’t able to capitalize on some of the other scoring chances with the wind at its backs and took the 1-0 lead into the half.
Linn-Mar tried to turn the tables on the Jaguars and upped its intensity in the second half with the aid of the wind.
Between returning goalkeeper Rylee Litchfield and an experienced back line featuring Boyle, senior captain McKenna Gray, junior Josie Ehlinger and sophomore Hadley Bergan, the Jaguars were in a spot to post back-to-back clean sheets to open the year.
In the 72nd minute, the Jaguars were able to get one of their handful of counter attack opportunities and Pezzetti was able to thread a pass between a pair of defenders out to Postma, who scored her breakaway chance to seemingly put the dagger in.
“I’m just really proud of our team and how we go out there, don’t care about the big names or who we’re going against, just play our game and remember (Team, Family, Passion),” Postma said.
The Lions found themselves with a free kick following a yellow card less than a minute later. Litchfield’s attempt to save a shot by Aubrey Luck wasn’t enough to knock the ball away as Linn-Mar cut its deficit in half.
Centennial was able to hold on, though, to secure the victory and a 2-0 start to the season.
“It’s really nice to start the season this way,” Berger said. “I feel like it’s a huge confidence booster for the team and me as well. It’s good to get those first two games off your back, especially knowing those are two of the best teams in the state and you know you can play at that level with that kind of competition.”
The Jaguars will host Urbandale (0-1) in their CIML Conference opener on Friday. The J-Hawks opened their season with a 3-0 loss to Dowling Catholic last Monday.