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Crimson Bears soccer teams split with visiting Knights
- Klas Stolpe
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
JDHS girls top conference foe Colony 5-1, JDHS boys fall to Colony 3-0
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé soccer teams hosted Railbelt Conference rivals Colony on the Adair Kennedy Memorial Park pitch Friday night and the Crimson Bears girls earned a 5-1 win over the Knights while the Crimson Bears boys fell 3-0.
JDHS senior Peyton Wheeler continued to climb up the Crimson Bears’ girls scoring stats with two goals and assisting on the three others.
“The game was really exciting,” Wheeler said. “We showed our conference that we can compete, that we are up there, if we are not first, then we are still up there. In practice we have been working on getting the ball out of the back quickly and playing it wide, so we can get it up faster and it worked.”
Wheeler scored the game’s first goal, assisted by freshman Madelyn Dale; freshman Hailey Romero scored next, assisted by Wheeler; Wheeler scored, assisted by junior Claire Overson; sophomore Ayla Erickson scored, assisted by Wheeler; and freshman Mia Alexander scored, assisted by Wheeler.
Wheeler also noted that classmate Piper Blackgoat-Diehl was selected as the team’s Hard Hat player of the match.
“Because during practice we have been working on her man-marking,” Wheeler said. “And she went out there today and did her job. Stopped the players we wanted to and it worked.”
Wheeler had five shots, Erickson four, Romero, Dale, Blackgoat-Diehl, Alexander, sophomore Zoe Tagsip and freshman Emma Kovach one each. Senior goalkeeper Tearamae Alexander had four saves.
Colony senior Avrie Giegerich scored the Knights’ goal, assisted by senior Sammy Gerteisen.
JDHS’ Tagsip, sophomore Nellie Stowers, junior Riley Schultz and Erickson played 80 minutes each, Wheeler 75, sophomore Marigold Lindoff 73, Dale 63, Blackgoat-Diehl 55, senior Kenzie Simonson 69, Overson 29, Romero and freshman Maya Mothershead 28 apiece, junior Kate Bovitz 18, sophomore Gracie Snyder 12, M. Alexander 11, freshman Amaya Henderson, sophomore Cooper Blackgoat-Diehl and Kovach seven each.
“I am just really happy about our team and how we were willing to get this really important win,” Blackgoat-Diehl said. “I think it shows the dedication that we have been building. I am really excited to see what is next for our team. I am looking forward to Saturday’s game. We are always looking to improve and our coaches are a major help in doing that...I have been playing defense for three years and now Matt has given me the chance to play six (midfield) so I am really excited about it, but it is also really new for me.”
The JDHS girls are now 4-1 in the Railbelt and 7-2 overall. Colony is 4-2 (7-3 overall). In between the two is Wasilla at 3-1-1 (8-3-2 overall). West Valley is 3-3-1 (3-4-1 overall) and Lathrop 0-7 (0-7 overall).
“Great to see the kids continue to improve and put things into place that we have been working on as the season goes along,” JDHS girls coach Matt Dusenberry said. “Great win, hopefully we can come back tomorrow and put together another effort like we put in tonight.”
The JDHS boys also put in a great effort, but suffered some early near misses and played without two key players in their 3-0 loss to the Colony boys. Junior Maddox Carroll is lost for the season and senior Jesper Bennetsen was pulled out of the game early with an injury sustained earlier in the year.
“We heard right before the game that we lost Maddox for the year,” JDHS coach Gary Lehnhart said. “That didn’t help. Second year in a row and we feel so bad for the kid. Such a committed player and so hard to see this second season is lost for him. He is really our most well-rounded player, a center of the field player. I think that shook us a little bit. And then we had to take Jesper out after a few minutes. He is clearly our leader in the back. So we have to grow up. We are young and I have never played this many freshmen. And they are not to be faulted. They played hard and are doing the best they can.”
Despite the injuries JDHS played with intensity. The Crimson Bears had two early shots on goal and had the ball in their side of the pitch for most of the first 20 minutes of the first half.
“There were some positives,” Lehnhart said. “The kids are playing hard. They are going to get better, there is no question and we are going to have to figure out a path through.”
JDHS junior Sam Mazon had two shots on goal, sophomores Bryce Haygood and Troy Edgar, and freshman Andrew Koverdan one each. Sophomore keeper Callen Walker played 45 minutes in goal, had two saves and was scored on twice. Junior keeper Calvin Landvik played 35 minutes with one goal allowed.
Senior Elliot Welch played 75 minutes (earned three steals), Mazon 70 (1 STL, 1 check), sophomore Troy Edgar 65, sophomore Bryce Haygood 60 (1 CHK), freshman Karter Barzee 60 (1 STL), senior Noah Ault 55 (3 ST), junior Ibrahima Diouf 55 (3 STL), freshman Imanol Vera 55 (1 CHK), senior Kevin Flores-Lopes 50, senior Ethan Van Kirk 45 (1 STL), freshman Max Montalbo 40, freshman Elijah Edgar 35, junior Tullitsiaq Reimer 30, senior Kaiden Odenheimer 30 (1 STL), senior Erik Thompson 25, Koverdan 25 (2 STL), sophomore Jayce McDonald 15, senior Jesper Bennetsen 10.
Colony goals were scored by seniors Axel Simeck, Blake Carveth and Race Jansen.
The JDHS boys Lunch Box player of the game was given to Ault.
“We looked at who was competing at the end and Noah was battling to the end,” Lehnhart said. “And I thought that was good. He is a guy that doesn’t quit and tries to find a solution through. There definitely were some positives. That game could have gone very differently if we put in some of our chances early. I think part of the maturation process is they are learning how to play regardless of the score and not having that take the air out of your sails. These games are a good learning opportunity and we will hopefully figure it out.”
The West Valley boys lead the Railbelt Conference with a 7-0 record (7-1 overall), Colony is 3-2-1 (6-3-1 overall), JDHS 2-3 (4-3-1 overall), Wasilla 1-3-1 (4-6-2 overall) and Lathrop 1-6 (2-6 overall.
The JDHS girls play Colony at 3 p.m. Saturday and the boys play Colony at 4:45 p.m.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
