It’s been a long road back from an ACL injury for Ankeny Centennial’s Mady Postma.
All the hard work has paid off for the junior midfielder.
Postma scored the game’s only goal on a header in the 54th minute to give the third-ranked Jaguars a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Ankeny in a CIML Conference girls’ soccer showdown on Thursday at Northview Stadium.
“It’s a big reward for me individually just to be out here competing, and I’m giving it my all,” said Postma. “It feels amazing (to get the win), but it’s not our Super Bowl. We’re always looking ahead to May. We train every single day so hard, and we come in every day and put our all into it. It feels good when we get rewarded.”
Postma has scored a team-high five goals for the Jaguars, who raised their records to 3-0 in the conference and 5-0 overall. She tore her ACL last August and missed the girls’ wrestling season, but worked hard to get back on the pitch this spring.
“(It’s been) incredible, just her journey back from her injury to her productivity on the field right now,” said Centennial coach Chris Allen. “She just continues to get better. I know that was a header (that she scored on), but her shot has become more dangerous. She’s just been really coachable. Her journey just amazes me.”
The win allowed Centennial to continue its domination of the all-time series. The Jaguars are now 10-2-1 against their crosstown rival and have recorded clean sheets in seven of those victories.
“I’m disappointed with the result, but it was a hard-fought match and I think we were organized and defended well,” said first-year Ankeny coach Gavin Mason, whose team dropped to 1-2 in the league and 3-3 overall. “We had a difficult time getting on the ball and keeping possession, which Centennial certainly deserves credit for. They obviously are a great team and played well tonight. I am proud of our girls for the way they battled.”
Centennial had some chances to take the lead in the first half, when the Jaguars had a strong wind behind their backs. But Ankeny’s defense held firm, keeping the game scoreless going into the break.
“We were trying our hardest to finish it in the first half and when that didn’t happen, we knew we really needed to put in our effort and that’s why it was so exciting for us to get that goal,” said Centennial sophomore midfielder Grace Poskevich.
Centennial finally broke through early in the second half. A corner kick was initially cleared by the Hawkettes, but Poskevich booted the ball back into the box, where Postma headed it over the outstretched arms of Ankeny goalkeeper Paige Hartz and into the net.
“I was just getting it back into the box–anything at that point would be good for us,” Poskevich said. “I know that we have amazing players that can put away any type of ball.”
Postma relied on her physicality to get her head on the ball.
“We do a lot of finishing (in practice),” Postma said. “We knew that something was going to come out of (the corner kick). We just keep connecting passes and find it when it’s open.”
Ankeny tried desperately for an equalizer the rest of the way. The Hawkettes had multiple corner kicks in the final 10 minutes, but were unable to convert.
“Hat’s off to Ankeny,” Allen said. “They were great. They were threatening.”
Poskevich was confident that Centennial goalkeeper Rylee Litchfield and the Jaguars’ back line would hold up against Ankeny’s pressure. Litchfield finished with four saves in her third shutout of the season.
“Rylee is an amazing keeper,” Poskevich said. “I always trust her with the ball and everything and having our backs. Our whole entire defense works so hard, and I know they’ll always be there no matter what situation we are in.”
Poskevich played in 12 games as a freshman, including some action as a reserve in the Jaguars’ 3-0 win over Ankeny. But she played a much bigger role on Thursday, when she recorded her second assist of the season.
“It feels amazing,” Poskevich said. “We worked so hard for this. It’s so cool to see us come back from a tie (game) and work for it. We put our all into that last half, and it feels good to get that win and to put it away.”
Centennial will travel to Valley on Tuesday for another huge conference game. The No. 2 Tigers are 2-1 in the league and 6-1 overall.
Ankeny, meanwhile, will head to Norwalk for a non-conference game against the Warriors (6-0), who are ranked No. 2 in Class 2A and have outscored their opponents by a 25-1 margin.
