The Juneau-Douglas High School boys soccer team lost its first game of the season Thursday night at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field.
Kenai Central High School junior Damien Redder scored the only goal of the match around the 12th minute to give the Kardinals a 1-0 win over JDHS.
The Crimson Bears are now 3-1-0 while Kenai improves to 4-1-0.
“I felt like it was a game we played well enough to win but once again we didn’t score,” JDHS head coach Gary Lehnhart said.
JDHS lost to Kenai by the same score the last time the two faced off, May 25, 2017, in the first round of the state tournament. The Kardinals went on to finish third while JDHS would come in fourth at the tournament.
Lehnhart said it was too early to say whether the game foreshadows the Division II state championship game.
“I haven’t seen a lot of the other teams,” Lehnhart said. “We’re certainly hoping to be there and they’ve proven more than a worthy opponent so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them do well in the tournament. Hopefully, we’ll be there, too.”
Of the 19 schools in the newly-created Division II (small schools) classification, JDHS and Kenai are the only two that qualified for the state tournament last season (when there was a single classification).
After going down in the first half, the Crimson Bears acted as the aggressor throughout the second half. JDHS junior Kanon Goetz made several nice rushes upfield as he and several other JDHS players generated quality scoring chances.
“High pressure at all times,” Goetz said of his offensive strategy.
Goetz filled in for injured senior Brysen Mitchell at the center forward position.
“He’s an explosive player,” Lehnhart said of Goetz. “If anything, I thought he was too unselfish tonight.”
Kenai senior Zachery Tuttle, the 2017 Northern Lights Conference player of the year, assisted on Redder’s early strike. The forward bolted down the left sideline until he didn’t have much field left in front of him. He then crossed the ball over to Redder.
“(Tuttle) got past the outside defender so I just made my run inside the centerback,” Redder said. “He passed to me perfectly, (I) made a sliding shot and it went into the left corner of the net.”
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
4 challenges Kenai’s Riley McKee for the ball at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Thursday, April 19, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas’ , right, challenges Kenai’s Travis Verkuilen for the ball at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field on Thursday, April 19, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
