(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The feeling of getting their ticket punched to the girls’ state soccer tournament has never gotten old for Ankeny Centennial coach Chris Allen and his players.
Now, the third-ranked Jaguars are headed to the Class 3A tournament for the 11th time in the program’s 12 years of existence.
Centennial scored a pair of second half goals to slam the door shut on No. 12 Cedar Rapids Prairie in a 3-0 clean sheet in a regional final on Friday at Northview. The game was postponed from Thursday due to heavy rain and lightning, but the wait was worth it as the Jaguars’ win sets up a quarterfinal showdown against their crosstown rival.
“I fall in love with my teams every season,” Allen said. “We have great kids in the program, my staff is excellent, the support staff is excellent, and getting a chance at another week to extend the season is just something that I absolutely do this for. We’re in the ‘one more day’ phase of the season and so we’ll battle for one more day the best we can.”
Centennial already had a feel for the visiting Hawks well before Friday’s contest.
The Jaguars opened their season against Prairie on April 10 at the Crosstown Invitational, where they got goals from five different players and rolled to a 5-0 victory.
A lot of things can change in the span of nearly two months and with a game that has the possibility of ending a season.
Goals were a little bit more difficult to find the second time around after the Jaguars had scored four goals in the first 40 minutes during their first meeting against Prairie.
“I want to tip my hat to a much-improved Cedar Rapids Prairie team,” Allen said. “We saw them earlier in the season, and we were able to jump on them early. Here they gave us everything. What a battle that was in the first half. So I definitely want to share some respect to that squad and coach (Rod Hullaby).”
The Jaguars got a big boost from their underclassmen as sophomore Grace Poskevich and freshman Rebecca Flick teamed up for the first goal late in the opening half.
The two teams were close to going into the half without a goal before a cross from Poskevich found the foot of Flick in some traffic, and it led to a 36th minute goal.
It was just Flick’s third goal of the season.
“It meant a lot for us to go into the second half with a lead, especially because there was a lot of pressure,” said sophomore Jaeden Jackson, who later tallied a goal and an assist.
The game remained 1-0 until Jackson scored what might have been Centennial’s goal of the season in the 71st minute.
Freshman Kayle Pezzetti found plenty of open space to cross the ball into the box, where Jackson had a defender beat and dove horizontally to connect with a header that found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. It was Pezzetti’s team-leading eighth assist of the season.
“It was an amazing ball from Kayle, and I wanted to do anything to get that in the back of the net,” Jackson said after scoring her fifth goal of the year. “If diving was what I have to do, that’s what I did.”
“In those 12 years (coaching Centennial), that’s probably the best header goal I’ve ever seen,” coach Allen added.
Jackson, who is Allen’s niece, helped the Jaguars put the final touches on their win in the 78th minute.
She found her way back into the box, spotted Poskevich standing with a wide open look at the net and played it to her for Poskevich’s third goal of the season.
And while the younger players capitalized on the scoring chances at one end of the field, the Centennial defense of goalkeeper Rylee Litchfield and a stout back line of McKenna Gray, Evie Boyle, Hadley Bergan and Josie Ehlinger had the Hawks shut down from start to finish.
Chances for Prairie (9-6) were few and far between, and Litchfield didn’t need to record a single save in order for the Jaguars to secure their third consecutive shutout and their ninth of the season.
“Another clean sheet for Rylee and that’s big for her,” said Gray, a junior captain. “As a defensive line and as a team, we really played our game and communicated through the hard times. We love playing our game here.”
The Jaguars (15-2-1) will now play No. 6 Ankeny (11-5-1) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Lied Recreation Fields in Ames. Kickoff is slated for 2:45 p.m. on Field 2.
The Hawkettes advanced with a 3-1 win over No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Thursday. They qualified for state for the ninth straight year.
The Jaguars got a 54th minute goal from Mady Postma to post a 1-0 victory over Ankeny on April 23. They are 10-2-1 in the all-time history of the series and have recorded clean sheets in seven of those victories.
This will be only the second postseason meeting ever between the rivals. Centennial defeated the Hawkettes, 3-2, in the Class 3A title game in 2018.
“Obviously, we don’t want to make it any bigger than it already is for us, but it’s the battle of Ankeny and we’re both going to want it in the state tournament,” said Gray, whose sister Megan was a standout on the 2018 championship squad. “Whoever gets it will be the lucky one here.”
The winner will face No. 2 Valley (15-2-1) or No. 7 Linn-Mar (Marion) (12-3-3) in the semifinals on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. on Field 2.
“I’m sure (our girls) will be excited, I’m sure Ankeny will be excited, and hopefully the community gets excited,” Allen said. “What an event for our community to show out for and see the product of soccer in this community. It’s a big thanks to the clubs that feed us and to the kids that are working every day in our programs and making great strides. The fact that both teams found a way just speaks so well for Ankeny soccer in general.”
