The Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer team still hasn’t played a complete game on the pitch.
But on Tuesday night, the second-ranked Jaguars were more than good enough to post a 6-1 victory over visiting Dowling Catholic.
“It was a good first 20 minutes of each half and then the level dropped a little bit, but it was still good enough to beat a pretty good Dowling side,” said Centennial coach Brian Duax. “Dowling is going to be really tough in the future. They’re just super young. I think they start eight or nine freshmen or sophomores, and that’s tough.”
The Jaguars were coming off a 1-1 tie on Friday at Urbandale, while the Maroons were coming off a pair of draws against Millard West (Neb.) and Ames on Saturday at the Valley Invitational.
It quickly became apparent, though, that Tuesday’s game would not result in another tie. Centennial built a 3-0 halftime lead, then continued to find the net in the second half.
“That was our plan,” Duax said. “We weren’t sure what Dowling was going to do. They didn’t sit in like Urbandale did, but they didn’t press us either. They kind of played a mid block, and we had a game plan to exploit it and we exploited it pretty early and pretty often.”
Tate Duax had a hat trick for the Jaguars, scoring two of his three goals in the first half. He also had an assist.
Brock Brazeau contributed a goal and two assists, while Garrett Christensen and Andrew Krueger each added a goal. Ben Ridlen chipped in a pair of assists, and Maddox Rash added another.
Centennial improved to 2-0-1 in the CIML Conference and 5-0-1 overall. The Maroons’ records dropped to 1-2-1 and 1-3-3.
“Which Centennial team shows up dictates how the game goes,” Duax said. “If we get the Centennial team that played Waukee Northwest and did really well and the team that showed up tonight, we’re going to have a good time against every team. We’ve just got to make sure that that is the team that shows up for us consistently. I want a game where we play well for a full 80 minutes and the level doesn’t drop.”
The Jaguars will face Ankeny on Thursday at Northview Stadium. The game will start at about 7:30 p.m., following the girls’ game between the two schools.
The Hawks are coming off a 4-0 loss at No. 1 Johnston on Tuesday. They are 0-3 in the league and 2-4 overall.
