Thunder Mountain’s goalkeeper Alan Plosay, left, and teammate Kieran Kollar, center, knock the ball away from Kenai’s Nathaniel Beiser at THMS on Friday. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Thunder Mountain’s goalkeeper Alan Plosay, left, and teammate Kieran Kollar, center, knock the ball away from Kenai’s Nathaniel Beiser at THMS on Friday. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Tuttle dashes Thunder Mountain upset hopes

It was hard to reconcile the Thunder Mountain High School boys soccer team’s first game of the season with its second.

Playing against Kenai Central High School Friday night at TMHS, the Falcons hardly resembled the team that got pushed around in a 5-0 loss to Juneau-Douglas High School nine days earlier.

TMHS scored two goals in under 20 minutes and continued to put pressure on Kenai’s defense for the entire first half.

“This was a 180,” TMHS coach Josh Odum said of his team’s turnaround. “I think that first game we were kicking off some rust and we’re always a little timid against JD, they’re the big dogs in town. … This felt good. This is a victory for us.”

But only a moral victory — the Kardinals, which finished in third place at the state tournament last season, scored four unanswered goals to come away with a 4-2 victory and improve to 5-1-0. TMHS drops to 0-2-0

“It was good to finally get everybody to settle in,” said Kenai’s Zach Tuttle, who scored all three second-half goals. “We knew we could beat this team but everybody came in maybe a little too confident and we didn’t settle down and play our game until towards the end.”

It was all Falcons at the beginning of the game. TMHS junior Marc Manlulu registered the first shot on net in the first 30 seconds of play and capitalized on a separate play some four minutes later.

TMHS’ Shay McCormick lined up a free kick from just outside the penalty box, delivering a good strike on net. The ball was struck down and but remained long enough in the goal area (the small box that sits in front of the goal line) for Manlulu to get behind it.

“In there, it gets really chaotic,” Manlulu said. “But I saw the opening and I took it.”

The Falcons added another goal a little over 10 minutes later after freshman forward Logan Miller took a chance on a shot from distance.

Kenai answered back in the 36th minute on Nate Beiser’s goal that brought the Kardinals within one. The visiting team dominated play for most of the second half and finally found the equalizer on an excellent header by Tuttle in the 70th minute.

He wasn’t done there, though.

The reigning Northern Lights Conference player of the year broke the tie in the 76th minute on a lightning-quick rush up the field and added another in stoppage time. Senior Luke Beiser assisted on the first goal and junior Damien Redder assisted on the second two.

“I guess we just got tired at the end,” Manlulu said. “Second half, they stayed on our half for a while … they had so many corner (kick) opportunities, it really stressed us out.”

Despite the loss, Manlulu and the Falcons are keeping their heads up.

“Knowing that we can score against Kenai, we have a chance against anyone else, like JD, West,” he said. “This scoring gave us that little boost.”

After a game against West Anchorage on Saturday, the Falcons host Ketchikan on Thursday and Friday at TMHS.


• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.


More in Sports

Juneau’s Auke Bay Post 25 shortstop Kasen Ludeman attempts to tag Anchorage’s South Post 4 runner Mark Warren at third base during Alaska American Legion baseball action Saturday at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Juneau’s Alaska Legion baseball team opens season

Auke Bay Post 25 fights through four-game series.

Kai Ciambor, a 2025 graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, in action against West Anchorage during the ASAA Division I Soccer State Championships at Colony High School on May 30. Ciambor was selected the Gatorade Alaska Boys Soccer Player of the Year on Thursday. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Kai Ciambor named Gatorade Alaska Boys Soccer Player of the Year

Crimson Bears 2025 graduate earns top honor in high school sports.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé track and field coach Jesse Stringer, 2025 JDHS graduate Nick Iverson, JDHS sophomore to be Bella Connally, and JDHS assistant track and field coaches Jennifer Strumfeld and Tina Martin pose for a photo on Wednesday at the JDHS auxiliary gym after Iverson and Connally had school records noted. (Photo courtesy Chris Connally)
Crimson Bears Iverson, Connally place names on record wall

JDHS track and field stars new school records registered on high.

Grace Dumas approaches the finish of the East Glacier Trail Tangle on Tuesday. The 4.9-mile race follows part of Under Thunder Trail around East Glacier Trail and back. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Morely, Tanel top East Glacier Trail Tangle

Sprints, climbs, descents and bears overcome.

Stinky Rats’ Jason Norat is congratulated by teammates as he finishes the Seacoast Relay at the Eagle Beach State Park outer beach picnic shelter on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Stinky Rats find burritos at Seacoast Relay

13 teams share in the spoils of winners’ bounty.

Male wood ducks have colorful plumage and do not share parental duties. (Photo courtesy of Kerry Howard)
On the Trails: Wood ducks

Wood ducks nest seasonally in forested areas across North America from coast… Continue reading

The Sitka Wolves baseball team celebrate their 7-0 win over the Service Cougars in the championship game Saturday of the 2025 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska DI Baseball State Tournament at Anchorage’s Mulchay Stadium. (Photo courtesy Heather Gluth)
Sitka Wolves are state baseball champions

Bryce Calhoun pitches one-hit title clincher.

Most Read