The JDHS girls soccer team is prepared to face one of state’s best teams

The Juneau-Douglas girls soccer team will try to settle the score this week with an Up North team.

Wasilla, one of only two teams to shut out JDHS last season, hosts the Crimson Bears tomorrow night at Wasilla High. JDHS and Wasilla tied 0-0 last April in their only meeting of the season. Following that game, the Crimson Bears averaged five goals per contest, eventually capturing the Divsion II state championship. JDHS then takes on Colony High and Eagle River on Friday and Saturday respectively.

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“Wasilla was a nice, even game last year between the two of us,” JDHS coach Matt Dusenberry said. “They were in the (state) final against South last year and gave South a really good final game.”

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JDHS earned 5-0 and 7-0 shutouts against Ketchikan last weekend, extending their win streak to seven games dating back to last season. Seniors Malia Miller and Michaela Bentley led the team with four goals each. Dusenberry said the lopsided scores didn’t necessarily reflect the difficulty of the rainy matches.

“Ketchikan really looked to press us and they were keeping us from putting it in the back of the net,” the coach said. “We were certainly getting our shots off, we just would miss left and right a little bit, but we sorted it out.”

Knowing the strength of his team this year, Dusenberry said he looked into scheduling games in California or Colorado, but things didn’t pan out.

The Crimson Bears boys soccer team, on the other hand, were able to travel to the Lower 48, going first to Seattle and then Spokane last week for three games against upper-echelon teams.

After arriving in Seattle on Thursday afternoon, JDHS made the 30-mile drive to Bothell, where they lost to North Creek High School. Then it was off to Spokane — a regular destination for the JDHS boys soccer team for several decades — to play Ferris and Mead high schools. JDHS lost to Ferris 4-0 and tied Mead.

The JDHS boys host TMHS next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Field.

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