The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls and boys soccer teams will kick off a new season from their Adair-Kennedy Field center mark on Friday and Saturday against the Cook Inlet Conference’s Eagle River Wolves, an opponent the likes of which JDHS will see more of as consolidation has placed them back into Division I soccer.
“I like the fact that 59 kids are playing girls soccer. This is just awesome,” JDHS girls’ head coach Matt Dusenberry said. “Managing 59 kids is a new challenge, but I think so far their attitudes have been fantastic…We coaches may make a mistake or two in trying to get it right and fun for them when it comes to practices, games and things like that. They’ve been great and rolling with it so far, working hard, can’t complain. We didn’t have to help remove any snow this year off the field so that has been awesome as well.”
The JDHS girls play at 5:15 p.m. Friday and the boys at 7 p.m. The girls play at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and the boys at 3 p.m.
JDHS has stepped up to the large school ranks this season as their enrollment numbers have exceeded the DII 850-school student population threshold due to the consolidation with now-defunct Thunder Mountain High School. They will play in the Railbelt Conference with Colony, West Valley, Lathrop and Wasilla. Ketchikan remains a DII school but is without a conference and will be placed into the state tournament if it has a strong Ranking Percentage Index (RPI) against opponents.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé boys soccer seniors pose for a photo during Wednesday practice at Adair Kennedy Field. Left to right are Cole Reel, Matthew Plang, Nathaniel Brennell, Kai Ciambor, Ahmir Parker, Kellen Chester, Caden Haygood, Reed Maier, Owen Rumsey and Ryan Thibodeau. Not pictured is Malcolm Bahn. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
The JDHS assistant coaching staff is a mix of JDHS and former TMHS coaches due to the consolidation. The staff includes Cindy Eriksen, Lindsey Kato, Martin Morris, Phil Subeldia and Kristen Wells.
“The cool thing about our team and the situation we are in right now is that all the coaches that were at Thunder Mountain, we are all working together, so we have everybody from last year that coached girls high school soccer,” Dusenberry said. “It is a very positive thing that helps support all the girls. And that helps with 59 kids.”
The JDHS girls graduated 14 players, but return 14 seniors, strengthened by the consolation, the Crimson Bears program and the Juneau Youth Soccer Club.
The Crimson Bears graduated only three full-time starters and return many who have had stellar contributions, including two-time all-state tournament selection senior center back Natalie Travis.
“I’m most excited that we got a bunch of new players,” Travis said. “And so that means we all get more friends. Obviously team bonding is a lot more fun with more people. I think moving to Division I is definitely going to be a challenge. DII was always a challenge, too, but I think that our hard work will show through. We’re…going to try to do really, really well but we’re going to try our best no matter what and no matter what happens, happens.”
Last season, Travis was joined by junior two-year forward starter Peyton Wheeler as all-state choices and by senior Milina Mazon as players of the game selections at state.
“I’m excited to travel more, and I think the new players are going to play a huge role,” Mazon said. “I think it is going to be a challenge but I think we are working for it and we’ve had experience against some of them, now we get to actually play them regularly.”
Wheeler said she was excited to experience something new, “and have a lot more opportunities. And I’m just excited to experiment how we play as a team. It’s going to be really fun.”
Some returning Crimson Bears varsity players of note are seniors Cerys Hudson, Lola Hines, Adelyn Buss and junior Kenzie Simonson, and some notable players from the Falcons include senior Ella Orsborn, junior Piper Blackgoat-Diehl and sophomore Riley Schultz. Also stirring up the practice pitch have been freshmen Ayla Erickson, Marigold Lindoff and Zoe Tagsip.
“The fact that we only had a few seniors leave our starting lineup means we have some kids that have been playing at the varsity level and starting for a while,” Dusenberry said. “Now they are seniors so we rely on them and that experience because the move up into DI is going to be fantastic challenge, and we’ve got some younger kids and some great players coming in with the merger of two schools that I have had the opportunity to coach them as youth players, and to have them join us collectively, I think we are a pretty strong team to contend with. It will be interesting to see how we do…We had a fair bit of success way back before the whole DI/DII split, so hopefully we approach it this year and that history continues for us.”
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Eagle River is in the Cook Inlet Conference with Bartlett, Bettye Davis East Anchorage, Chugiak, Dimond, Service, South Anchorage and West Anchorage.
Three teams from the Railbelt, based on season conference win-loss records, and four from the Cook Inlet Conference qualify for the state tournament, with one at-large bid between the two conferences earning a berth via a strength-of-schedule formula.
Eagle River has already played two games this season, losing to Dimond 12-0 and Colony 5-0.
“The one thing we have on our team is, across the board, even the kids coming up, anybody playing in the forward or midfield positions — they can all shoot,” Dusenberry said. “And with some pretty good power. It will be interesting to see what that equates to in goals in the back of the net but they are certainly not afraid to put it on frame.”
Players suiting up for the girls varsity this weekend – this lineup is not a permanent selection but can change weekly – include junior Alba Muir (jersey No. 1), sophomore Alyssa Travis (2), senior A. Buss (3), senior Priscilla Lam (4), junior P. Wheeler (5), senior C. Hudson (6), junior K. Simonson (7), sophomore R. Schultz (8), senior E. Orsborn (9), senior N. Travis (10), senior M. Mazon (11), senior L. Hines (12), senior Parker Boman (13), junior Tearamae Alexander (14), senior Dori Germain (15), freshman A. Erickson (16), freshman Z. Tagsip (17), sophomore Clairee Overson (18), senior Alison Tingey (19), senior Mary Canapary (20), junior P. Blackgoat-Diehl (21), freshman M. Lindoff (22), senior Alyssa Lawhorne (25) and sophomore Miley Andrews (26).
The JDHS girls soccer team are:
Seniors – Parker Boman, Adelyn Buss, Mary Canapary, Lena Field, Dori Germain, Lola Hines, Cerys Hudson, Priscilla Lam, Daniela Lamas, Alyssa Lawhorne, Milina Mazon, Ella Orsborn, Alison Tingey and Natalie Travis.
Juniors – Tearamae Alexander, Piper Blackgoat, Lydia Boman, Lola Brown, Jada Canon, Raynona Fraker, Grace Gazdig, Lydia Heidemann, Ainsley Mallot, Hazel McWilliams, Sasha Morrison, Alba Muir, Jimena Ramirez, Kenzie Simonson, Randy Stichert, Anberlin Tingey, Lorelei Urrutia-Lugo, Peyton Wheeler, and Koby Yturbe.
Sophomores – Miley Andrews, Moira Bahn, Kate Bovitz, Rylann Castillo, Alaska De La Mora, Lillian Dennis, Alani Flores, Bella Gregoire, Jillian Levy, Kaia Mangaccat, Claire Overson, Analia Perry, Angie Santiago, Riley Schultz, Riley Soboleff, Alyssa Travis and Kaisha Weston.
Freshmen – Lanaya Barrick, Cooper Blackgoat, Ayla Erickson, Delphine Hochstoeger, Marigold Lindoff, Emma McDowell, Gracie Snyder, Zoe Tagsip and Brynlie Tingey.
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The JDHS boys are welcoming the chance to play at the DI level, too.
“They are looking forward to the challenge,” head boys coach Gary Lehnhart said. “They are working hard to focus on that challenge and I feel good about where their heads are at. They are a nice bunch of kids to coach that really play hard and have good attitudes. They are not taking anything for granted. I haven’t heard from anybody a negative word about it. I think they all want the challenge of it.”
The Crimson Bears return three-time DII all-state tournament selection senior Kai Ciambor.
“This has been great,” Ciambor said of practices. “Having the acquisition of all the TM players has been great. They’ve brought a lot of energy both on field and their great personalities too, like we’ve made a lot of friends during this entire process. It has been great.”
Ciambor is looking forward to DI.
“I think the competition will be a lot better obviously, which is great for us,” he said. “I think this team is built on the motivation of ourselves and we work hard for this so playing the best competition will be great.”
Also returning is two-time DII all-state tournament selection senior Ahmir Parker and junior state player of the game selection Jesper Bennetsen.
“We’re a relatively young team and we’re a team with a lot of talent for sure,” Parker said. “And I think when we play the way we’re supposed to play we can compete with anybody at any level.”
Added senior Kellen Chester, “I think pretty much the whole team is excited. We’re just ready to go out and see what we can do, hopefully get some wins.”
The talent also includes seniors Reed Maier, Ryan Thibodeau and Owen Rumsey, juniors Kevin Flores-Lopez, Emmett Mesdag, Elias Schane and Elliot Welch and sophomore Atagan Hood.
“All those guys will get minutes,” Lehnhart said. “Obviously Kai and Ahmir have been dominant offensive players the last couple of years and we’re going to be relying on that. They’re both very talented. And Kellen has been a steady force for a number of years and he’s looked good, and Ryan is capable and stable, he can play all over the place and that’s good to have a guy like that you can play in any position.”
The team also lost two players in the consolidation that Lehnhart projected as starters in TM sophomore keeper Calvin Landvik and TM sophomore center back Maddox Carroll, both to ACL injuries.
“Well, I can’t play this season and that sucks but I think we have a good team,” Landvik said. “There is a lot of young and old talent and I’m excited to see what they can do. I will be able to just help out with drills and kind of give support.”
Also coming in the consolidation and pushing for starting positions are junior center back Noah Ault, junior midfielder Fixx Siner and sophomore keeper Erik Thompson.
“He (Siner) has probably been the biggest surprise to me of the season,” Lehnhart said. “I didn’t know a whole lot about his game coming in but he’s really proven to be a very capable defender. Good leadership qualities, too.”
Four freshmen are potential impact players on the varsity level and include Troy Edgar and Bryce Haygood as possible starters and Callan Walker as a varsity contributor.
Lehnhart said he was never a fan of the two-school split. He was a teacher at the time and didn’t like what it did to the academic program.
“I felt like we lost a lot of quality programs in schools when they got smaller,” he said. “From an athletic standpoint, I didn’t like the way it elevated freshmen into such big roles. And that’s ironic because this year we’ve got a couple pretty talented freshmen that are pushing for starting spots. I liked it back in the days when you had really solid JV teams and kids had to pay their dues, they just didn’t get jobs handed to them straight off the mark. I also think from an injury standpoint you’re having 14- to 15-year-old boys trying to compete with 18-year-old boys, that’s just a big physical difference… I’m glad we’re back. And I like the challenge of playing higher-level opponents. I think, for our better players, it is definitely a better training environment. We’ve been playing some of those teams anyways but it will be fun to get back there with them.”
Assisting Lehnhart on the coaching staff are Tim Harrison, Eli Wray, Colin Flynn, Ben Unduraga and Mitch White.
The Crimson Bears boys are:
Seniors – Malcolm Bahn, Nathaniel Brennell, Kellen Chester, Kai Ciambor, Caden Haygood, Reed Maier, Ahmir Parker, Matthew Plang, Cole Reel, Owen Rumsey and Ryan Thibodeau.
Juniors – Noah Ault, Jesper Bennetsen, Alder Caouette, Kevin Flores-Lopez, Daniel Juergens, David Kresina, Clive Mateo, Emmett Mesdag, Kaden Odenheimer, Elias Schane, Fixx Siner and Elliot Welch.
Sophomores – Maddox Carroll, Jake Chambers, Elan Chappell, Ibrahima Diouf, Inde Eckerson, Atagan Hood, Calvin Landvik, Sam Mazon, John Melancon, Chase Mesdag, Surin Pyare, Ean Rivera, Gavin Sebastian, Erik Thompson and Ethan Van Kirk.
Freshmen – Summit Boss, Troy Edgar, Bryce Haygood, Zachary Lagerquist, Lucas Luder, Jayce McDonald, Kai Mesdag, Osian Morris, Cohen Odenheimer, Alex Tripp and Callan Walker.
Since 2000, the JDHS girls have been in 22 of 24 state tournaments and the JDHS boys 24 of 24.
In 2018, due to the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) fairly putting schools into conferences based on enrollment numbers, JDHS was placed in DII after a storied history in Alaska soccer that included multiple state titles (girls – ’04. boys – ’01, ’03, ’08, ’10, ’11), runner-up finishes (girls – ’06, ’09. boys – 2000, ’02, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’12) and multiple qualifications into the state tournament (TMHS girls qualified for state in ’13, ’14) when all schools played in one division.
Before 2000, the tournament was invitational and the JDHS girls were runners up in 1996, ’98 and ’99. After 2017 state titles included the JD girls in ’18, ’19, ’21, ’22; the JD boys in 2022 and 2023 and the TM boys in ’21. Runners-up were JD girls in ’24; JD boys in ’18, ’20, ’24 and TM boys in ’22. The TM girls placed third in ’19 and ’21 and the JD boys third in ’21.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
