Juneau-Douglas High School senior Brysen Mitchell led a four-goal first-half charge as the Crimson Bears boys soccer team defeated Thunder Mountain High School 8-0 on a sunny Wednesday night at TMHS.
Mitchell, who scored three goals in the first half and one in the second, was absent for the Crimson Bears’ first conference loss in over 14 seasons on Friday. Coach Gary Lehnhart said he was sorely missed in that game and the one that followed against Ketchikan, one of only four teams that have beaten JDHS this year.
“When you’re the player on the field who’s getting to the most balls and essentially the hardest worker and laying it down like that, it makes everyone around you better,” Lehnhart said. “It sets a standard that everyone else has to rise to. … He’s constantly putting other guys in places to be successful.”
Mitchell, Kanon Goetz, Koby Goldstein and Clem Taylor-Roth gradually extended the Crimson Bears’ lead in the second half.
Even though they scored a season-high eight goals, Lehnhart said the group was more concerned about preventing goals than manufacturing them.
“I think that was our biggest frustration is that we were giving up goals,” Lehnhart said. “And even in the games we were winning, we were giving up goals. … That was the only goal we set pre-game, is zero (goals allowed), to do that with a freshman keeper (Forrest Davis), I think we feel good about that.”
JDHS’ alumni game on Saturday will officially conclude the regular season. The squad will play in the state tournament next weekend in Anchorage. It will be the club’s 19th consecutive appearance at the tournament.
As the last home game for TMHS, the Falcons honored its four soon-to-be graduates: Riley Lawlar, Matthew Edwards, Phillip Escorrido and Miguel Cordero. Two exchange students, Carlos Cabalero and Gregor Schniewindt, were also recognized by the team and coaching staff.
“I’ll miss all the funny moments we have, team bonding,” Escorrido said.
Escorrido said the work accomplished by the team this season makes for a solid foundation going forward.
“I think it’s a start to something,” Escorrido said. “I think the previous years that I’ve had and my brother, who’s an alumni, it’s been up and down but I think we’re getting more stable.”
TMHS plays its last games of the season against Ketchikan this weekend.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Juneau-Douglas’ Brysen Mitchell squeezes between Thunder Mountain’s Riley Lawlar, left, and Kieran Kollar to head a corner kick for a goal in the first half at TMHS on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain’s Kieran Kollar, right, deflects a shot by Juneau-Douglas’ Kanon Goetz at TMHS on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
