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Crimson Bears girls earn top all-conference soccer honors
- Klas Stolpe
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore Ayla Erickson voted MVP
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls soccer team earned numerous Railbelt Conference awards this week. RBC coaches vote on the honors and cannot vote for their own players.
JDHS sophomore Ayla Erickson was selected as the RBC Most Valuable Player and was one of four Crimson Bears chosen to the first team All-Conference.
“I am really excited to be selected for the Railbelt MVP,” Erickson said. “And I have really enjoyed playing with this team this year. I am really grateful for this nomination. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep improving and working hard.”
First-team selections included Crimson Bears senior forward Peyton Wheeler — the Crimson Bears scoring and assist leader — junior forward/midfielder Riley Schultz and sophomore defender Zoe Tagsip.
“It means a lot to me,” Wheeler said. “It definitely reflects the work I put in. I am very excited to be selected for the two years in a row.”
JDHS senior defender/midfielder Kenzie Simonson earned seconnd-team All-Conference honors and sophomore defender Nellie Stowers and freshman forward/midfielder Maddie Dale earned honorable mention team honors.
“I think it shows how good we are not just as a team, but also individually,” Wheeler said. “Winning the conference was very big for us, so these awards further exemplify to the state that we can compete with anyone.”
Said Erickson, “It really shows our hard work paying off by winning the conference and having several people nominated for all conference teams and honorable mentions. I think a lot of our success comes from our team being so close and working so well together. I really think we all think of each other as best friends. Coach Matt has been really involved with us and getting us to be the best we can. I am really excited to see what we can accomplish at state.”
Stowers was selected for a Good Sport Award and JDHS head coach Matt Dusenberry was honored as the Coach of the Year.
“To get recognized by my conference peers is nice,” Dusenberry said. “I would like to think getting the recognition all comes down to the kids and what they have done thus far into the season.”
First Team: JDHS - so Ayla Erickson (MVP), sr Peyton Wheeler, jr Riley Schultz, so Zoe Tagsip; Wasilla - sr defender Delany Tatum, fr forward Kylie Taylor, jr midfielder Lainey Kroon, so keeper Larkynn Miner; West Valley - sr midfielder Lola Seitz, sr keeper Kaia Sharpton, jr defender Ilsa Butman; Colony - sr forward Avrie Giegerich, jr defender Anika Lang; Lathrop - sr midfielder Justine Lovely.
Second Team: JDHS - sr midfielder Kenzie Simonson; WAS - jr defender Mickenzy Lofland; WV - sr defender Hailey Staiger, jr forward Kaydence Witte, so defender Takiah Aitken, sr forward Mary Stordahl; COL - jr midfielder Calico McIntyre, jr midfielder Hannah Hofmann, sr keeper Addy Stewart, jr defender Wurth Ford; LATH - so midfielder Clare Ward.
Honorable mention: JDHS - fr forward Maddie Dale, so defender Nellie Stowers; WAS - sr forward Danielle Steiner, so midfielder Molly O’Neill; COL - sr midfielder Sammy Gerteisen; LATH - fr keeper Kinsey Greninger, so midfielder Selah Hoop, fr defender Marley Patterson, fr midfielder Natalia Richards, jr midfielder Erica Ward.
Good Sport Awards: JDHS so Nellie Stowers; WAS jr midfielder Jordan Sande; COL jr forward Naya Ortega; WV sr defender Evyn Bowen; LATH Kiki Beardsley.
2026 RBC team results: 1st JDHS; 2nd WAS; 3rd WV; 4th COL; 5th LATH.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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