JDHS earns clean slate on boys senior soccer night

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears senior boys soccer players got the ball rolling, literally, Thursday night during their final home match on the Adair Kennedy pitch and underclassmen preserved an unbeaten season and a clean slate in an 8-0 win over Thunder Mountain High School.

Seniors Kean Buss, Gabe Cheng, Will Robinson, Tayten Bennetsen, Micah Brown, Tommy Pearson and Jack Schwarting were celebrated with their parents before the match began.

“It was leadership, group leadership, that was what I appreciated the most,” JDHS coach Gary Lehnhart said during pregame honors. “Most of all they have just been a super positive group. I have had years where, when the season ended, I needed a break. Not this group. Pretty much every day is fun.”

Lehnhart said to his seniors, “You have made it really special. Hats off to you. I know your teammates respect the heck out of you, and I do too. It has been my pleasure. Congrats.”

Senior Kean Buss continued to make the season special with an unassisted goal in the 25th minute that included a few crazy touches and a volley to himself.

“Oh wow, that first goal was pretty awesome,” Buss said. “It was pretty fun. I just kept it alive. I got a foot on it. It was nice.”

Seven minutes later, Buss blasted a corner kick that classmate Bennetsen comforted with his midsection into the net for a 2-0 lead.

“I went to elementary school with six of the seven seniors,” Buss said. “The rest of us have been playing together since we were 4. These are my best friends. It is good to get out there and perform. It has been a great season so far. To have senior night at home with my friends and family here, it’s nice.”

Four minutes later, Bennetsen touched a rebound that sophomore Ahmir Parker netted for 3-0.

“It’s so nice,” Bennetsen said. “This is a great day. Sunny day, nice out, it was hot and scoring a goal is always fun. It was pretty amazing. I just saw it come out of the sun from Kean (Buss). It came in the air and no one around me. I had to get my body on it and it ended up being my stomach and it kind of got me winded but it was a goal, I was excited. I believed in our team. I loved our core, our five strong seniors in the middle who have been playing together since we were about five. It is perfect that it has all come together and have a team that supports us.”

In the second half ,JDHS sophomore Kai Ciambor put three goals in the net in a span of 10 minutes.

The first saw Buss put a throw in to the center and Ciambor rose to collect it with a bicycle kick for 4-0 at the 50th minute.

“He’s a special player,” JDHS coach Lehnhart said. “He was playing well in the first half but things were hitting the post, the keeper was making good saves on him… I told him at halftime it was going to happen, just wait for the game to come to you and it will happen.”

Ciambor took a touch from junior Wasiq Malik in the 58th minute and spun the ball once and tipped it over Falcons charging junior goalie Camdyn Landvik for 5-0.

Landvik would be injured on the play and leave the match with three saves on the night.

Ciambor finished the spree with a shot from 25 yards out, assisted by freshman Emmett Mesdag, nestling the ball in the bottom left webbing at the 60th minute for 6-0.

“It feels great,” Ciambor said of helping the Crimson Bears seniors in their final home game. “Most of these people I have grown up with my whole life, like Kean Buss and Will Robinson. So getting to play with them just feels amazing.”

Robinson finished his night with another all-state defensive outing and Buss added an assist that junior Xavier Melancon netted for 7-0 in the 62nd minute. JDHS sophomore Kellen Chester put a ball into the bottom left of the Falcons goal, assisted by Malik, for 8-0.

“They had fun,” JDHS coach Lehnhart said. “And they played well. Before the game I told them it was about playing as a team and playing well and then you will have fun. That was what I liked best. We really played like a team. Almost every goal was a pass, an assisted goal.”

JDHS junior keeper Alex Mallott earned the clean slate with three saves, a couple deflections and, although his command of “release” was used readily, he remained vigilante throughout.

“They made it pretty easy,” Mallott said of his teammates. “The line, even when we had JV swings in, it was great. They really stepped up. There were a couple hard shots. I feel pretty good, we get ice cream for a shut out.”

JDHS coach Lehnhart said keeper position is hard when your offense is so strong.

“Sometimes you are not in the flow of the game as much,” Lehnhart said. “We were controlling things and he has to stay in and he does. He has definitely done well this year. And we have to keep reminding ourselves he has only played the position for a year and a half. He’s a basketball player so he doesn’t get a lot of time in the off season to train, so, it’s pretty remarkable how much he has improved.”

The Falcons had opportunities to score but hard shots by seniors Preston Lam, Ben Erickson and Stig Cunningham, junior Calvin Knapp and freshman Fixx Siner were just off the mark. JDHS outshot TMHS 25-5 and earned six corners to the Falcons two.

“Very proud of the way the boys played today,” TMHS coach Tim Lewis said. “We started out and played well from the start but couldn’t stop the set plays in the first half and had some defensive lapses in the second half. A lot of little mistakes that added up into goals against us. I’m proud the boys kept their composure and fought until the end of the game and didn’t give up. Calvin, Preston and Ben made some good plays today. We will work on cleaning up the mistakes and look forward to competing again next week.”

JDHS improves to 10-0-1 overall and 5-0 in the Southeast Conference. TMHS is 0-6 SEC.

TMHS will host JDHS for the Falcons senior night next Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

“It feels good,” JDHS’ Buss said. “Our team keeps getting better. We came back from our trip in Anchorage last week and we played really well up there, so it feels good to continue that.”

See photos from senior night below