(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny boys’ soccer team held the lead for nearly 43 of the 80 minutes of play and were tied for a combined 33 minutes.
But unfortunately for the Hawks, the 4 minutes and 9 seconds that fifth-ranked Southeast Polk held the lead was all the Rams needed to hold off Ankeny’s upset bid.
The Hawks conceded two second-half goals in Wednesday’s Class 4A substate semifinal at Southeast Polk, where a 76th minute game-winner by Rams star Cole Skinner ended their season with a 2-1 loss.
“This one hurts a bit,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio, whose team finished with a 5-12-1 record. “We knew the physicality would be an issue, we knew set pieces would be an issue, and we gave them a lot of opportunities off set pieces. Quality-wise, I thought we showed our quality. I thought we showed our progress that we’ve made and the fight that we’re willing to go into every game.”
The Hawks knew they were going to be facing an uphill battle if they wanted a chance to return to the state tournament.
Heroic efforts from seniors Keaton Kobow and Cal Wahlberg kept their hopes alive when they outlasted Des Moines East, 2-1, in a quarterfinal game on May 19.
But the Rams (11-3-4) were always going to be the biggest roadblock for the Hawks after getting placed in the same substate with their CIML Conference rival.
Ankeny traveled to Southeast Polk at the start of the month and suffered a 4-0 loss that included a pair of goals from Skinner.
“We just got physically bullied for most of (the first meeting),” Fuccio said. “Anytime they played the ball big, we were second to it. Next ball we were second too, and they were able to boot the ball down the field on us. This time we were willing to be physical and create that contact.”
From their last game at Southeast Polk, the Hawks knew that their chances were going to be limited and that they’d have to convert when granted the opportunity.
Wahlberg and Kobow pulled through on that front.
Southeast Polk set its sights on the Ankeny duo and aimed to limit how much the Hawks’ two leading scorers could do on the attack.
In the 15th minute, the Rams surrendered too much space to Wahlberg and lost sight of Kobow, which led to Wahlberg crossing it in front of the goal to an open Kobow for the game’s opening goal.
It was Kobow’s 10th goal of the season. Wahlberg earned his 11th assist.
The early strike put the Hawks in the driver’s seat, and it’s a seat that they held onto for nearly 43 minutes.
“That first one was big and gave us this feeling of control,” Fuccio said. “We knew the game wasn’t over by any stretch of the imagination. Coming into it, we kind of knew we’d need to keep a clean sheet because we weren’t going to create a ton of opportunities, but we also thought we could also limit any quality opportunities they had as well.”
The amount of pressure that the Rams were able to generate opened up the door for numerous chances, and it was only a matter of time before it burned the Hawks.
Southeast Polk lined up for a corner kick in the 58th minute, Skinner was able to get a touch on the ball, but it was a touch by Tyler Hegg that gave the Rams an equalizer.
Ankeny looked to keep the 1-1 draw inching toward the end of regulation, but losing sight of Skinner for just a moment proved to be costly.
The ball got booted between the two squads before Skinner was able to find an opening in front of Ankeny’s goal and buried his 22nd goal of the season to give the Rams a 2-1 lead with just 4:09 left to play.
The Hawks weren’t able to generate the chances they needed in the final 4 minutes and ultimately fell short of reaching the substate final.
The Rams, meanwhile, will host Iowa City Liberty (6-6-4) on Friday for a trip to the state tournament.
“(Skinner) was a big part of our game plan just like Keaton and Cal were a part of their game plan,” Fuccio said. “You look at the stat sheet and you see 90 percent of their goals and assists are from one player, so obviously he’s got to be a key in any strategy. We tried to limit his space throughout, and he got open a few times.”
Ankeny will have some big shoes to fill next season with a large senior class set to depart from the program. Wahlberg, Kobow and fellow senior Jackson Dockendorff were the only three players to start every game this season.
Dockendorff, the team’s goalkeeper, had nine saves in Wednesday’s game, increasing his season total to 119. Defender Michael Sage, another senior, started all but one game.
Wahlberg and Kobow combined for 20 of the team’s 25 goals and 17 of the 19 assists. Dockendorff’s play in goal helped keep Ankeny in plenty of games this season.
The Hawks relied on several underclassmen to produce early on in their varsity careers, and the coaching staff hopes their future core will be able to build off of their season.
Sophomores Joshua Mueller and Ryler Ntem and freshmen Zach Mueller and Aiden Heide were among those underclassmen that started nearly every game this season.
“From the playoff experience, they’ll know what it’s going to take (to win),” Fuccio said. “In the last three years, we haven’t had an easy substate game once. It’s always going to be everyone fighting for their season. The biggest thing I want to take away from our freshmen is that we’ve got to get bigger, stronger and more physical.”
