Girls soccer
A fourth consecutive Southeast Conference title is well within the reach of the Juneau-Douglas High School girls soccer team.
The squad returns both of its two top goal scorers — Malia Miller and Michaela Bentley — who as sophomores racked up 33 of the team’s 42 goals.
“We got a lot of juniors that can play and we’ve got Taylor Bentley, a freshman, coming in and we’ve got some other younger kids coming in to fill the shoes of the seniors that we lost,” coach Matt Dusenberry said. “I’m pretty excited about the group that we have.”
The team will benefit from having one of the strongest goalies in the state, Shaylin Cesar, in net.
Last weekend, JDHS swept their weekend series against TMHS. The Crimson Bears won 5-2 on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday. Here’s a look at the girls soccer team’s 2018 season.
Junior strong
The varsity squad is overwhelmingly filled with juniors, many of whom saw minutes on varsity as sophomores. Bentley, Miller, Cesar, Jessie Mayer, Nicole Mannix and Bailey Wery Tagaban all started for the Crimson Bears last season.
That experience could go a long ways this year, Dusenberry said.
“They’re coming in already knowing how we’re hoping to play as a team,” Dusenberry said. “We’re not having to start the season having to go, ‘OK, here’s our formation, here’s how we’re going to try to play this year.’”
Michaela Bentley said the team mimics one big friend group.
“We’re all friends, there’s not really any cliques so I feel like that makes a difference on the field,” she said.
Schedule
JDHS plays two of its four games against Ketchikan this weekend at Thunder Mountain High School. Then, following a bye week, the Crimson Bears take on West Anchorage for its only two nonconference home games of the season. The two teams tied for third place at the state tournament last season.
The team plays four more nonconference games on a trip to Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley during the last week of April.
JDHS finishes up its conference schedule in May. If they win another Southeast conference title this year, they’ll play at the state tournament at the end of the May.
State tournament history
The Crimson Bears defeated West Valley 1-0 to advance to the semifinals last season. JDHS lost 4-0 to South Anchorage in the semifinals but salvaged a tie in the next round against West Anchorage to finish third overall at state.
After not qualifying for state in 2013 and 2014, the team finished seventh and fourth in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Neither South Anchorage nor West Anchorage will compete with JDHS for a state championship this year. Those two schools, along with 10 others will play for a Division I state title.
JDHS was one of 19 schools to be reclassified as a Division II school during the offseason.
Boys soccer
It’s been six years since the Juneau-Douglas High School boys soccer team won a state championship.
This year — despite not having the depth of some previous teams — could be the year the team returns to Alaska soccer glory.
For one, there are no prima donnas or divisions on the team.
“We have as big a range as we’ve ever had, in terms of ability,” coach Gary Lehnhart said. “But you wouldn’t notice it in terms of the way they treat each other. We do more things together. We’re trying to get the better players to really help these other players develop because we’re going to need them in a few years.”
But perhaps more significantly, like the girls team, JDHS will not be competing against fellow Anchorage schools for a state championship.
The Alaska School Activities Association, the state’s governing body for high school sports, restructured soccer from a one-classification system to a two-classification system in the fall.
JDHS, Kenai, Homer and 16 other teams will play for a Division II (medium schools) state championship.
“It’s still going to be tough (to win state),” Lehnhart said. “We saw that this weekend playing Ketchikan. We won both games but they’re a bigger a school than us now.”
Here’s a look at the boys soccer team’s 2018 season.
Scouting the conference
JDHS won all four of its crosstown games against Thunder Mountain High School last season. The Crimson Bears shut out the Falcons in all four contests.
JDHS swept the season series last year with Ketchikan High School as well. The Kings didn’t go down quite as easy. Their final two games against JDHS ended with 1-0 and 3-2 decisions.
Fast forward to last weekend, JDHS again got the best of the Kings, winning 3-1 and 2-0 at Esther Shea Field in Ketchikan.
The Crimson Bears have not lost to a conference opponent in over 14 years now.
“As seniors, we definitely didn’t want to be the class that broke it,” senior Brysen Mitchell said.
“It was definitely part of our drive,” senior Ezra Geselle said.
Schedule
The Crimson Bears play in their home opener Wednesday night against TMHS. They then play their next seven games against nonconference teams, three at home and four on the road.
JDHS ends the regular season at home with two more games against Ketchikan (May 11-12) and TMHS (May 8, May 16).
State tournament history
Kenai Central High School derailed JDHS’ bid for a state championship last season. The Kardinals defeated the Crimson Bears 1-0 in the first round of the state tournament.
JDHS finished the tournament on a high note though, beating Homer 4-1 and Dimond 3-0 to claim fourth place.
It was the fourth time in the last five years the program has finished fourth at state. The Crimson Bears last won state in 2011.
Looking for more?
The Empire will be highlighting the Thunder Mountain High School soccer programs in Wednesday’s paper.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Forest Davies, one of the goal keepers on the JDHS boys soccer team, prepares to block at shot at practice on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. (Richard McGrail | Juneau Empire)
Shaylin Cesar, one of the goal keepers for the JDHS girls soccer team, blocks a shot at practice on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. (Richard McGrail | Juneau Empire)
