Ankeny Centennial boys’ soccer coach Brian Duax celebrated his birthday with a victory.
The top-ranked Jaguars opened postseason play on Wednesday by defeating visiting Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 6-2, in a Class 4A substate semifinal.
“Substate is always on my birthday, and it’s always good to get a win on your birthday,” said Duax.
Centennial (14-0-2) got two goals and a pair of assists from Tate Duax, while Zachary Clark also scored twice. Lucas De la Cuba added a goal and two assists for the Jaguars, who gave up an early goal but then dominated the rest of the way.
“Obviously, it feels great,” said Tate Duax. “We’re coming in as No. 1, but after we conceded early, we had to lock back in and show why we’re No. 1. So it felt good.”
Jefferson (4-9-3) struck first when Joe Valentine found the back of the net at the 7:51 mark. It marked only the second time this season that Centennial has trailed.
“I think we had a little bit of complacency with these guys not being ranked at all,” Tate Duax said. “After that first goal, I think we all got a little shock and we all started playing the way we’re supposed to.”
It took only 2 minutes for the Jaguars to tie the game. Duax crossed the ball to Garrett Christensen, who fired a shot past Jefferson keeper Chris Nemmers for the equalizer.
Then, just 40 seconds later, Duax scored his first goal to put Centennial ahead for good.
“I feel like that’s something we have to work on,” Clark said of the team’s slow start. “We have to play our hardest no matter who we are playing.”
Coach Duax warned his players before the game that Jefferson would play aggressively at the start.
“I would say the first 10 minutes we thought they would just roll over and die,” he said. “The whole pregame talk was about teams that are playing for their lives are going to come out and typically play harder and better than they normally do, but we were the better team the entire night. It was just a matter of time before we started finishing some chances. It was good to share the ball around and get the result, but it was disappointing to give up the two (goals) to be honest.”
After De la Cuba scored to make it 3-1, Clark followed with a pair of goals to extend the margin. The senior midfielder entered the game with just one goal on the season.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Clark said. “There’s been good times and bad times. I get there every day before practice, but it’s a team thing. My team set me up for those opportunities and trusted me to finish them, so it starts with the team first.”
The J-Hawks converted a header off a corner kick in the 39th minute to cut the deficit to 5-2 at halftime.
Then, in the 47th minute, Duax completed the scoring with an incredible goal. He somehow tapped the ball away from an onrushing Nemmers and then found the net from near the end line despite an almost impossible angle.
“To be honest, I wasn’t even trying to score,” Tate said. “I was trying to pass it across the goal for someone else to score and it ended up just going in. That was God, not me.
“It really was (an impossible angle). I don’t know how it went in,” he added.
It was Duax’s 21st goal of the season, which ranks third in Class 4A.
“The kid has jets that can do all sorts of things,” coach Duax said of his son. “He can be pretty special when he chooses to be.”
Brock Brazeau and Christensen each added an assist for Centennial, which will host Waterloo West (10-6-1) in the substate final on Friday at 7 p.m.
Waterloo West advanced by defeating Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 1-0, in a shootout. Goalkeeper Thein Le made 13 saves as the Wahawks avenged an earlier 2-0 loss to Kennedy.
“I thought that game would be a toss-up,” coach Duax said. “We’ll look at some film and get ready for Friday.”
The winner of Friday’s game won’t have much time to prepare for the state tournament. The Class 4A quarterfinals will be played on Monday at Valley Stadium.
“I think it starts with us in the locker room,” Clark said of his team’s chances to win it all. “How we recover, and how we do everything. It truly starts with us.”