Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé soccer teams stand out at state

Klas Stolpe
2 minutes ago
3 min read

Crimson Bears girls place fourth, boys fifth, each wins high tournament accolades

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls soccer team pose with their team Sportsmanship and Academic awards at the 2026 ASAA state soccer tournament at Palmer, on Saturday, May 30, 2026. (Photo courtesy JDHS soccer)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys and girls soccer teams finished their state tournaments on Saturday with mixed results, but accomplished a greater award than wins or losses.

Both teams earned the tournament’s Team Academic Award and Team Sportsmanship Award.

Which makes sense since soccer is a highly psychological sport, demanding immense mental strength and split-second cognitive processing, maintaining focus, making rapid decisions and handling high-pressure moments while under fatigue. And, per numerous psychology journals, research suggests that kindness is a core component of true intelligence.

The JDHS girls had a 3.74 grade point average and the JDHS boys a 3.61.

The third-seeded JDHS girls defeated fourth-seeded Colony 2-1 in the consolation championship for fourth place and the fifth-seeded Crimson Bears boys fell to the third-seeded West Anchorage 4-1 in the third/fifth-place game.

Crimson Bears senior Peyton Wheeler and sophomore Ayla Erickson were selected to the girls All-State Tournament team, and Crimson Bears senior Jesper Bennetsen and junior Sam Mazon were chosen for the boys All-State Tournament team.

In the girls 2-1 win over Colony for fourth place, Wheeler scored her 72nd career JDHS goal, assisted by freshman Maddie Dale. Senior Kenzie Simonson scored the second goal of the game, assisted by sophomore Gracie Snyder. Simonson was also selected as the ASAA Player of the Game. She also earned the team’s Hard Hat award for her goal and solid play across the pitch.

Wheeler had seven shots, Erickson three, junior Riley Schultz two and freshman Maddie Dale one. Wheeler, Simonson, Erickson, Schultz, Dale, and sophomores Marigold Lindoff, Nellie Stowers and Zoe Tagsip played 80 minutes, freshman Hailey Romero 54, junior Kate Bovitz 31, senior Piper Blackgoat Diehl 29, junior Clairee Overson 22, sophomore Gracie Snyder 14 and freshman Mia Alexander one. Senior keeper Raynona Fraker played 10 minutes and earned four saves. Senior Tearamae Alexander played 70 minutes, allowed one goal and saved one.

Colony senior Addison Stewart scored for the Knights and junior Calico McIntyre scored their goal, assisted by freshman Brooklyn Bullock.

The JDHS girls had opened the state tournament with a 2-1 loss to Wasilla on Thursday. The Crimson Bears defeated Service 4-0 on Friday to earn the 4th/6th place game Saturday. South Anchorage defeated Wasilla 5-0 for the girls Division I state title.

In the boys 4-1 loss to West in the 3rd/5th place game, Mazon scored the Crimson Bears’ lone goal.

The JDHS boys had opened the state tournament with a 3-0 win over Colony on Thursday and fell 2-0 to West Valley in a Friday semifinal. Dimond defeated West Valley for the boys DI state title.

The Soldotna Stars boys defeated the Ketchikan Kings 1-0 for the DII state title. Kayhi opened state with a 9-0 win over Monroe and a 2-1 win over Palmer in the semifinals.

The Palmer Moose girls defeated Kenai 3-1 for the girls DII state title. Ketchikan opened the tournament with a 4-0 loss to Palmer. The Lady Kings defeated Monroe 4-0 and next beat Grace Christian 1-0 for fourth place.