Valley boys hang on for win over Ankeny in Iowa high school soccer state semifinals

Sixty-six seconds.

That’s how long it took for Valley to score against Ankeny in the Class 4A semifinal of the Iowa high school boys state soccer tournament on June 5.

The goal came off the foot of Eric Foust, who cut around his defender and sent a cross-box shot past the goaltender and into the left side of the net. Less than two minutes into the game, the Tigers were up 1-0.

And that one-goal lead stood until the final buzzer, marking the seventh-straight shutout for Valley’s defense and the fourth-straight for Tigers goaltender Alexander Poitan.

Top-seeded Valley defeated Ankeny, and the Tigers advanced to the June 6 state title game, where they will face reigning back-to-back champion Johnston.

“We needed that goal right away,” said head coach Aziz Haffar postgame. “And I’m so proud of Alex, and every defender that came in. We found a way to get it done. It’s amazing.”

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The action leveled out after Foust’s opening goal, but Valley remained on the offensive for most of the first half. The Tigers’ best shot at another goal came on back-to-back corners late in the first half.

With just over 12 minutes before halftime, Pablo Mendez took a corner kick for the Tigers. One teammate headed the ball, then Britton Morrow directed another header toward the net. Ankeny goalie Jackson Dockendorff tapped the ball over the net to relieve the pressure.

Mendez lined up for the corner kick, again, and Dockendorff left the goal open during the resulting scrum. Colton Horn let off a shot for Valley, but Hawks’ defender Henry McMillan was in the right place at the right time and blocked the attempt.

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The deflection went out of bounds, and Valley was awarded another corner. Valley missed a header attempt – with the ball soaring over and past the player’s head – and Ankeny managed to clear the ball.

After the three consecutive corners, the excitement died down.

Both teams kept each other on their toes, but Valley held onto its 1-0 lead at halftime.

That single goal proved enough to win the game, although both teams had plenty of opportunities. But there was a moment in the second half that impacted the game.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Alex Mirsky went to collect the ball at the same time that an Ankeny defender went for a tackle. The Hawks’ player took down Mirsky on the play, and the Valley senior needed to be stretchered off the field.

Haffar believes Mirsky broke his leg, he told the Des Moines Register postgame.

“Obviously, that’s emotion to go through, to be honest with you,” Haffar said. “It was very emotional. I met with the guys and I said, ‘Listen, we’re not going to retaliate, we’re going to play soccer, and we’ve got to play the game like it should be. So, I was very proud of them.”

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There was no retaliation, but there was tension building between the two Central Iowa Metropolitan League (CIML) opponents.

Two players – Austin Lundberg from Ankeny and Cristian Catalan from Valley – received red cards for separate calls in the final minute and seven seconds of the match.

Under Iowa high school rules, a player who receives a red card must sit out the next game, so the Tigers will be without Catalan – who started 19-of-21 games this season, according to GoBound – for the state title game.

“We were not going to practice tomorrow, but we’re going to go through some stuff that we need to do,” Haffar said. “I’m very proud of these guys. I know somebody will step up to the plate and play the game the way they know how to do it.”

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.