JDHS opens three-day soccer road trip with wins at Palmer

Crimson Bears girls blank Moose 3-0, Crimson Bears boys nip Moose 3-2

In this file photo, Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Peyton Wheeler strikes a shot against Colony during the Crimson Bears' 3-1 win over the Knights on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park pitch. Wheeler scored two goals at Palmer on Thursday, May 14, in a 3-0 win over the Moose. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

By Klas Stolpe  

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé girls and boys soccer teams challenged the Palmer Moose on the road at Machetanz Field in Palmer on Thursday, the first of a three-day road trip that will include Wasilla on Friday and Saturday.

The Crimson Bears girls defeated the Moose 3-0 behind two goals from senior Peyton Wheeler, and the Crimson Bears boys nipped the Moose 3-2 behind two goals from junior Sam Mazon.

Wheeler scored the girls’ first goal, assisted by freshman midfielder Hailey Romero, with 20 minutes left in the second half.

Sophomore striker Gracie Snyder scored with roughly six minutes remaining in the game, assisted by junior midfielder Riley Schultz, and Wheeler scored with two minutes left to play, assisted by senior wingback Kenzie Simonson.

“We loosened up,” JDHS girls coach Matt Dusenberry said. “Kept the ball in bounds a bit more.”

Snyder received the team’s Hard Hat award.

“She came in and scored a great goal for us,” Dusenberry said. “And while the stat sheet doesn’t reflect it, it was her pressure defending a ball and winning it as a striker that allowed Kenzie to play a ball in for Peyton to score.”

Stats provided by JDHS show Wheeler had eight shots in the game, sophomores Zoe Tagsip and Ayla Erickson three apiece, Simonson two, and Snyder one.

Wheeler, Simonson, Schultz, Erickson, Tagsip, and sophomores Nellie Stowers and Marigold Lindoff played 80 minutes, as did senior goalkeeper Tearamae Alexander, who collected two saves. Freshman Maddie Dale played 60 minutes, senior Piper Blackgoat Diehl 41, junior Kate Bovitz 39, Romero 34, junior Clairee Overson 29, freshman Maya Mothershead 20 and Snyder 17.

The JDHS girls improve to 9-2 overall and still lead the Railbelt Conference with a 5-1 record. The Palmer girls fall to 9-3 overall, but retain an undefeated Northern Lights Conference mark of 7-0.

In this file photo Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Sam Mazon (10) strikes a shot against Colony during the Crimson Bears' 3-1 loss to the Knights on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park pitch. Mazon scored two goals at Palmer on Thursday, May 14 in a 3-2 JDHS win over the Moose. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

The Crimson Bears boys trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes against the Moose, despite six shots at the Palmer keeper, four corners and two free kicks.

Palmer started the second half with a run on the JDHS goal, but the Crimson Bears marked the attack and stole the ball.

JDHS senior Elliot Welch hit a rebound shot to tie the game at 1-1 with 30 minutes left in the second half.

Palmer responded on their possession and had a run on goal, but JDHS senior Jesper Bennetssen marked the attacker and possessed the ball. The Crimson Bears would carry the heavy end of possession in the second half and had a free kick and a corner kick punched away by the Moose keeper. Another JDHS shot hit the crossbar.

Palmer junior Logan Johnson regained the lead for the Moose, assisted by senior Jackson Chartan, with 22 minutes left in the game.

JDHS junior Sam Mazon, who had missed shots earlier in the game, had a blast stopped with under 18 minutes remaining. But the rebound spun in front of the sprawling keeper, and Mazon scored to tie the game at 2-2.

With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Mazon earned a penalty kick and drilled a goal for the 3-2 score that held.

Mazon had eight shots, four on goal and sophomore Bryce Haygood seven shots, three on goal. Mazon and Haygood also had one assist apiece. Welch and freshman Elijah Edgar had two shots, both on goal. Freshman Andrew Koverdan had one shot.

Mazon played 75 minutes, Haygood 65, junior Atagan Hood 60, Welch 60, freshman Imanol Vera 60, senior Ethan Van Kirk 50, senior Noah Ault 50, Koverdan 50, sophomore Jayce McDonald 50, freshman Karter Barzee 50, junior Ibrahima Diouf 45, senior Kevin Flores-Lopez 45, senior Erik Thompson 40, E. Edgar 40, Bennetsen 30, sophomore Troy Edgar 20 and junior Tullitsiaq Reimer 10. Mazon had five corner kicks, Vera had three steals and two corner kicks, Haygood three corner kicks, Welch two steals and Koverdan one.

The JDHS boys improve to 5-4-1 overall and remain at 2-4 in the RBC. The Palmer boys fall to 8-3-2 overall and retain their 7-0 Northern Lights Conference leading mark.

The Crimson Bears girls and boys will face the RBC Wasilla Warriors on Friday and Saturday. The Warriors girls are 10-3-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the RBC. Warriors boys are 4-8-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the RBC.

In this file photo Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Elliot Welch (36) strikes a shot against Colony during the Crimson Bears' 3-1 loss to the Knights on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park pitch. Welch scored a goal at Palmer on Thursday, May 14 in a 3-2 JDHS win over the Moose. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com