(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
Even if some of the recent results didn’t sway in the favor of the Ankeny boys’ soccer team, the Hawks were at least able to highlight some positives as building blocks for their season.
But Friday night’s matchup at Southeast Polk was just a game that got away from them.
The Class 4A fifth-ranked Rams netted a trio of second-half goals in the span of 11 minutes as Ankeny dropped a 4-0 decision for its fifth consecutive loss. Four of those defeats came by shutout.
“This was a step back from some decent performances in losses,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio. “So we just got to find a way to have a good performance and start moving in the right direction next week.”
It’s been a gauntlet for the Hawks since their 4-0 loss at No. 1 Johnston that started the losing skid on April 21. Since then, Ankeny has also lost to three other top-five foes–No. 2 Ankeny Centennial and Class 3A No. 5 Norwalk in addition to the Rams.
Despite the losses, the Hawks were able to find some good performances against some of those teams and were able to create chances that kept them close.
The Rams just had all the answers against them.
“We knew coming in that Southeast Polk was going to be physical, and we’ve struggled with physicality and with set pieces,” Fuccio said. “That was the story of the night at the beginning, and they continued to play the ball big and we struggled to deal with it. Until we address that, we’ll continue to have issues.”
Southeast Polk struck first in the 16th minute when Tyler Hegg was able to score off a corner kick for a 1-0 lead.
The Rams nearly scored a second goal just over a minute later, but their shot that was chipped over Ankeny goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff drifted wide right of the goal.
Southeast Polk almost took a 2-0 lead right before halftime when a shot drilled straight down off the crossbar and Dockendorff was able to control the loose ball before the Rams could get a head on it.
“Tonight was 4-0, but it could’ve been seven, eight or nine,” Fuccio said. “They created some chances and (Dockendorff) had some big saves back there. He keeps us going, but we’ve got to provide him with some help as well.”
The Hawks found a few chances in the second half including a shot from Alberto Romero-Rodriquez that was deflected by Southeast Polk goalkeeper Samer Arafa in the 50th minute.
Things came apart for the Hawks starting in the 58th minute, when Southeast Polk leading goal scorer Cole Skinner was able to extend the Rams’ lead. Skinner later scored again in the 68th minute for his 16th goal of the year.
Noah Wright added a fourth goal a minute later to put the game away. Both squads then got a chance to find some playing time for their reserves in the final minutes.
“We’re just losing our individual battles across the field and until we get a bit of pride and are willing to be physical, the result isn’t going to change,” Fuccio said. “We got to find a way to make it easier for them to do that, but we also just have to execute with some physicality.”
The win improved Southeast Polk to 3-1-2 in the CIML Conference and 7-1-4 overall. The Hawks’ records dropped to 0-5 and 2-8.
Ankeny has experienced some growing pains with a young roster that features 10 freshmen and five sophomores, but Fuccio is hoping that there is still time to turn things around.
“They know they’re being baptized by fire a bit as freshmen getting minutes in the CIML, it’s not easy,” Fuccio said. “We’re just trying to keep them seeing the big picture, but we also have to keep the standard where it’s at or the standard drops and we’re ok with results like this.”
The Hawks will try to get things headed in the right direction on Monday, when they host a conference game against another struggling team. Waukee comes to town with marks of 0-4 in the league and 3-8 overall.
The Warriors suffered their fourth straight loss on Friday at No. 4 Waukee Northwest, 4-3.