(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
There was never a chance that seniors Keaton Kobow and Cal Wahlberg were going to let Ankeny boys’ soccer season come to an end on the Hawks’ own pitch.
Ankeny’s dynamic duo netted back-to-back late second-half goals to rally the Hawks past Des Moines East, 2-1, in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal on Tuesday.
“No, definitely not (a chance we’d lose),” Wahlberg said after scoring the game-winner on a 73rd minute penalty kick. “Especially being seniors, the fight to keep playing and keep playing with this squad is in us always. It’s postseason, so it’s just a little extra something to it.”
“It goes for both sides though,” Kobow added after scoring the equalizer in the 67th minute. “You could tell (East) wanted it just as bad as we did. Their seniors were rising to the occasion as well. Everybody wanted to win. Any postseason game is going to be a hard battle, and I think we just had more fight.”
A comeback victory may not have been what the Hawks were expecting after just the first couple minutes of the game.
Ankeny threatened with numerous scoring chances in the first half, which started with an opportunity just 20 seconds after the opening kickoff.
Wahlberg and fellow senior Ty Newhard had the Scarlets backed up against a wall and just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Newhard saw an open net in just the 3rd minute, but had his shot sail high of the goal. Wahlberg got in behind a defender, and East goalkeeper George Hernandez was able to deflect Wahlberg’s shot just wide of the net.
“We talked about what postseason play has looked like for us in the last two years,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio. “We haven’t had a calm game in any of our substate games the last two years. So we kind of expected that to be the performance tonight.”
Newhard nearly had Hernandez beat in the 15th minute and had his shot ring off the crossbar.
Despite the Hawks finding plenty of high quality chances, East was the team that was able to break the scoreless tie in the 18th minute.
A free kick from midfield led to East sophomore Tony Hall heading the ball past Ankeny goalkeeper Jackson Dockendorff for the early lead.
“We dribbled the keeper twice in the first 3 minutes, and we had four or five really good opportunities in the first 5 minutes,” Fuccio said. “When you don’t put a team like that away, they continue to build momentum, continue to build belief and that’s what ended up happening.”
The Hawks went into halftime facing a 1-0 deficit, but were confident that they’d eventually be due for a goal.
That goal didn’t come until the 67th minute.
Newhard drew a penalty outside of the East box, and Kobow lined up to take the free kick. He attempted to cross it toward the back post and the ball found its way to the top left corner of the goal for the equalizer.
“I thought I was a little far out, so I was planning on crossing it and placing it back post,” said Kobow, who scored his ninth goal of the season. “I saw a lot of my teammates just sitting back there, and I was just going to try to place it. Then it just happened to go in. I just curled it, no real intention to put it in, but it happened to go in.”
Ankeny dealt with some frustrations between penalties being committed and scoring chances not panning out, but Kobow’s goal swung the momentum back into the Hawks’ favor.
The game-changer came just a few minutes later in the 73rd minute.
Wahlberg had a ball booted upfield for him and muscled his way in front of his defender, who was left to decide between risking a penalty inside the box or giving up an uncontested shot to Ankeny’s captain.
Wahlberg got sent to the turf and was awarded a penalty kick that he buried for the game-winning goal, his 10th of the season.
“Once I got the ball, I knew if I took my touch in front of him that he was behind me so he has to foul me like he did or I’m free in on goal,” Wahlberg said. “He fouled me and from there it was just staying composed, keeping calm, doing the things we’ve worked on in practice and putting it away.”
Not only did the penalty help Ankeny take the lead, but a red card shown to the Scarlets left East down a player while facing a one-goal deficit with under 8 minutes left to play.
Dockendorff bounced back from the early goal and helped Ankeny hold the Scarlets (3-11) scoreless in the second half, finishing the night with four saves.
“I’m proud of how tough they played,” Fuccio said of his team, which improved to 5-11-1 on the season. “Maybe earlier in the year, we would’ve tucked our tails and gotten out of here with a 1-0 loss and our season be done. I’m proud of the growth we made and the physicality and the toughness we have moving forward.”
Ankeny will now have to face its biggest road block standing between it and the state tournament as the Hawks are set to face top-seeded and fifth-ranked Southeast Polk (10-3-4) in the semifinals on May 27.
Ankeny dropped a 4-0 decision to the Rams on the same field earlier this month. Southeast Polk’s Cole Skinner had two goals in the game and currently leads Class 4A with 21 goals.
“They’re a good team, they’re really big and a really physical team,” Wahlberg said. “We just have to get up for the game, bring physicality and just bring the energy from the get-go. I think that’s what was lacking in the first game. It’s a game that can end our season, so I think we’ll be up for it.”
“I think Southeast Polk plays a lot like (East),” Kobow added. “They’re very big on just playing it behind to their very good striker. I think if we keep (Skinner) locked down–because he had two goals against us last time–and keep him out of the game, it’ll be really close.”
