The Juneau-Douglas: Yadaa.at Kale High School Crimson Bears boys soccer team beat cross-town rival Thunder Mountain High School Falcons 8-0 on Monday evening, the second meeting of the teams this season.
JDHS sophomore Kai Ciambor scored the first goal roughly 15 minutes into the first half. The Crimson Bears scored at regular intervals throughout the game, with eight different players taking credit for each of the game’s goals.
“It’s fun to see lots of different players score,” said JDHS Coach Gary Lehnhart. “It’s nice when the new guys get to score.”
Lehnhart added that exchange student Wasiq Malik, a junior, who has not played organized soccer prior to this year scored one of the goals.
Additional goals were scored by seniors Kean Buss and Tayten Bennetsen, junior Gabe Cheng, sophomores Kellen Chester and Owen Rumsey, and freshman Emmett Mesdag.
Lehnhart credited “good defensive play” as another key element of the victory. Later this week the Crimson Bears will travel to the Kenai Tournament.
TMHS head coach Tim Lewis said while it wasn’t the outcome the Falcons had hoped for, the score was in no way reflective of improvements made by the team from last week’s game.
“We went back to the basics during practice last week, and improvements showed in our passing and movement straight out of the gate, and held JD scoreless for the first 10 minutes,” Lewis said. “We unfortunately made some mistakes and JD was able to take advantage of those moments, so we will be looking over the next two-and-a-half-week game break to tighten up our defense and work on our transition to attack and getting quality chances at goal.”
Additionally, Lewis said in the absence of several varsity and swing players due to travel, the Falcons had a solid showing from their swing pool of players.
“Preston Lam had a fine performance in the midfield working the offense and defensive side of the ball, and MJ Tupou had a solid second half at left-back,” Lewis said.
Next up, JDHS will face off against Nikiski Middle/High School for a home non-conference game on Thursday and TMHS plays Ketchikan High School at home for a conference game on Friday, May 5.
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.
Members of the Crimson Bears men’s soccer team run back to reset after scoring a goal against cross-town rival Thunder Mountain. The Crimson Bears beat the Falcons 8 to 0 in Monday night’s game. (Courtesy Photo / Dana Zigmund)
