The Ankeny boys’ soccer team came away with a pair of wins over the weekend while playing three games in less than 48 hours.
After posting a 3-0 victory at North Polk on Thursday, the Hawks traveled to Davenport North for two more non-conference games over the next two days.
Ankeny scored three goals in the second half to break a 1-1 tie and defeated Muscatine, 4-1, on Friday. The Hawks then lost in similar fashion on Saturday, when Iowa City High broke away from a 1-1 tie to post a 4-1 win.
“Fatigue was definitely a factor,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio, whose team is now 4-9-1 on the season. “We’ve had some injuries that have caused our rotation to shrink just a little bit, and that became a factor as well.”
Ankeny scored its lone goal against Iowa City High (7-4-2) in the first half, when the Hawks had numerous other opportunities but were unable to capitalize.
“I don’t like making excuses, but we were able to create opportunities in the first half, and then in the second we were unable to get forward with the same consistency,” Fuccio said. “We conceded two (goals) at the end of the first half, and the momentum switched completely.”
On Friday, Ankeny got goals from four different players to hand Muscatine just its second loss of the season. The Muskies fell to 8-2-2.
Cal Wahlberg and Keaton Kobow each had a goal and an assist in the win. The senior duo has now combined for 15 of the team’s 19 goals and 14 of the 16 assists–Wahlberg has seven goals and nine assists, while Kobow has eight goals and five assists.
Heaven Thabow and Alberto Romero-Rodriquez scored the Hawks’ other goals. Ryler Ntem added an assist.
“Overall, I’m happy with the work we put in as a unit,” Fuccio said. “We’ll take the next couple days to recover before a challenging week to end the season.”
Ankeny will host a CIML Conference game against fourth-ranked Waukee Northwest on Tuesday. The Wolves also competed at Davenport North on Saturday, posting a 4-1 win over the host Wildcats to raise their overall record to 12-1-1.
Northwest is unbeaten over its last 11 games. The Wolves suffered their only loss to No. 1 Ankeny Centennial, 5-0, on April 7, but are now 4-1-1 in the conference and still alive in the title chase.