Top-ranked Ankeny blanks City High, 4-0

DES MOINES - Iowa City High's run in the girls' state soccer tournament may not have been the success it hoped for, but just getting to the tournament certainly was.Ankeny defeated the Little Hawks, 4-0 in a Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday evening to advance to the semifinals against Waukee. For City High- a team that won just two regular season games in 2012 -the season felt a like a dream come true.“Obviously this is not where anyone wants to finish, but I'm so proud of what this team has done and what this program has done in a year,” said senior midfielder Erin Danielson. “It's really exciting long term for the program, it's unfortunate I won't be here [as a part of the team], but it's definitely a great thing for the program.”First-year Little Hawks coach Sara Bleeker came in this season and helped the team establish its goal of earning a trip to the state tournament. Danielson said the transition to having Bleeker as the team's coach was an easy one.Bleeker noticed the team come together and really unify at the beginning of the season, which is something she felt turned a lot of heads as the season progressed. The team appeared to be at its strongest entering postseason play and was ready for a challenge against a 20-0 Ankeny squad.“The girls are out there battling together and they knew it was going to be a tough game today,” Bleeker said. “Ankeny is a very respectable team with a lot of talent, skill and speed. Just knowing that anything can happen at any moment of the game, just never giving up.”For Danielson, just having the opportunity to prove to people that City High deserved to be in the state tournament was an experience that she didn't necessarily think was a possibility before her senior year.“We just wanted to push away the past and go in a completely new direction so everyone just came together,” Danielson said. “We were more united as a team than we have been in any of my four years.”Bleeker said Danielson as well as the rest of the seniors on her team played a very integral part in achieving what they did this year and that their contributions will most certainly be missed.“I think this was their shot at redemption and they've been through a lot in their high school career and they have a lot of talent to share,” Bleeker said. “I was happy for them that they got to have one final chance and just kind of prove to everyone this is what they are.”