Erickson helps Alaska Youth Soccer team win first National title

Klas Stolpe
27 minutes ago
4 min read

Incoming JDHS junior leads Cook Inlet Soccer Club to U17 championship

Juneau's Ayla Erickson, standing back row third from the left, helped the Cook Inlet 09 Girls Soccer Club win the 17U Girls National Championship on Monday, July 20, 2026, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo courtesy Cook Inlet Soccer Club)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé incoming junior Ayla Erickson has not slowed down on the soccer pitch over the summer. On Monday, Erickson helped the Cook Inlet Soccer Club 09 Girls win the 2026 US Youth Soccer U17 National Championship in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

“Winning nationals was a really great experience with this team,” Erickson said. “I love them all and we’re all really close. The tournament started off with three games of group play, after winning those we advanced to quarters, semis, and then finals.”

Cook Inlet played in the Premier division with 13 teams divided into three brackets for pool play.

Cook Inlet went 3-0 in their bracket, defeating Montana’s Strikers FC SFC 09 Girls Tier I squad 2-1, stopping New York’s Buffalo Stallions 09 Girls 3-0 and defeating Louisiana’s Mandeville Soccer Club MSC Lakers 09 Girls ECNL RL 3-1.

"Ayla embodies the qualities that drive championship teams,” Cook Inlet Soccer Club coach Rich Bailey said. “Her effort level is elite, she is exceptionally coachable, and she has a relentless desire to improve. Over the past 2.5 years, she has become a very important player in our program. She was instrumental in our USYS U17 National Championship run, scoring twice in the semifinal and adding the opening goal in the final. Beyond the statistics, her physical presence, aerial ability, and positional versatility make her an impact player in any situation. She is the type of athlete who elevates everyone around her, and I could not be prouder of what she accomplished this season"

Juneau's Ayla Erickson, shown playing for the Cook Inlet 09 Girls Soccer Club in the Alaska Airlines Cup earlier this year, helped Cook Inlet win the 17U Girls National Championship on Monday, July 20, 2026, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo courtesy Cook Inlet Soccer Club)

In the quarterfinals Cook Inlet defeated Arkansas’ Sporting Arkansas 09 Girls DPL 2-1. In the semifinals Cook Inlet dominated West Virginia’s EPIC SC 09 Girls Dash 4-0 to earn the title game against Washington’s Whatcom FC Rangers 09 Girls Gold.

“During the final we were down 1-2 with only less than seven minutes left and scored two more goals to win 3-2,” Erickson said.

Erickson scored the first goal of the final.

“I scored from a corner kick off the inside of my left foot for the first goal of the game,” Erickson said. “I had a total of three goals and one assist throughout the tournament. I primarily played attacking winger and some attacking center mid.”

With the National Championship in the U17 Premier division, Cook Inlet is promoted to play in the U17 Super division next season.

This was the first year of Super and Premier brackets at Nationals.

“Last year we qualified through the national league pathway,” Cook Inlet coach Rich Bailey said. “Which is highly competitive. We beat most of the teams that were in the Super this year.”

Juneau's Ayla Erickson, standing back row fourth from the left, helped the Cook Inlet 09 Girls Soccer Club win the 17U Girls National Championship on Monday, July 20, 2026, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo courtesy Cook Inlet Soccer Club)

In last year’s semifinal Cook Inlet led 1-0 with 10 minutes remaining but fell in Florida’s 100-degree heat and 90% humidity and, due to substitution restrictions (no reentry), they were at a disadvantage as Alaska teams travel with smaller rosters.

“This year we had reentry and were only restricted to four substitution moments throughout a game,” Bailey said. “That made the biggest difference in my opinion…As a semifinalist in last year's tourney we should have been in the super this year…and they don’t say whether we will be moved to that bracket or not based on this result. All we can do is beat who they put in front of us. I will say, the premier bracket had three or four teams that were just as good as any of the top super bracket teams; they were just put in the premier based on logistics.”

Bailey noted this Cook Inlet SC team had been special since their U6 days and coaches were just waiting for them to continue to love the game.

"They have a different mentality and intensity," he said. "True players that happen to be great athletes."

This Cook Inlet team played and tied the team that won the 2026 U17 Supers bracket at the Far West Regionals in 2023. Whether Premier or Super, the players are basically at equal abilities and skill levels when they reach the US Youth National Championships.

“It is definitely a higher level of competition against these teams at nationals,” Erickson said. “Faster speed of the game, more technical, and aggressive. The heat and humidity was also a big challenge coming from Alaska to Tennessee. We have worked really hard for several years to get to this point. We were the first team from Alaska to make it to semifinals last year as well as the only team from Alaska to win nationals!”

Cook Inlet players earned three top awards in the tournament. Incoming South Anchorage High School senior Darby D’Amico won the Golden Ball, giving to the tournament’s best overall player. Incoming South Anchorage junior Grace Cox won the Golden Boot, given to the tournament’s top scorer. Incoming South Anchorage senior McKenna Keirn won the Golden Glove, given to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

“This team has given me so much experience, and I have learned a lot from these girls and my coaches,” Erickson said. “It is really exciting being able to play at such a high level. But also it is very competitive, everything is much more precise. It made me play at a high level myself and also gives me desire to keep improving. A big goal for me is definitely working to play at a collegiate level.”