The same leaders are in place for the Division I girls soccer teams in Fairbanks entering the 2025 season, while new head coaches lead the local Division II girls teams.
Shannon Staiger and David Powers are back as West Valley’s co-head coaches, Damon Crutcher and Kenny Hoop returned to lead Lathrop while Sammi Hebing has taken over for North Pole and Jose Martinez is now coaching Monroe Catholic.
The Wolfpack open their season this weekend with games at Juneau-Douglas on Friday and Saturday April 18-19 and play their first game in Fairbanks next Thursday, April 24 against North Pole before hosting Bartlett and Dimond over the next two days. West Valley visits Colony and Palmer the first weekend of May and plays rival Lathrop for the first time Tuesday, May 6. West Valley closes the regular season by hosting Juneau-Douglas on Saturday, May 17.
The Wolfpack, who went 8-4-3 last season, lost both of their Railbelt All-Conference honorees to graduation, including Railbelt Conference girls player of the year Hannah Willis. Lena Wiegand and Mary Stordahl are both expected to be back after scoring three goals apiece as sophomores last season.
Lathrop, which finished with a .500 record but went 2-0-1 against West Valley last season and placed fifth at the 2024 state tournament, returns ASAA Division I All-Tournament Team honoree Kiersten Ostnes along with fellow seniors Brooks Whittman, Maya Scanlon and Jordann Lowe, who were Railbelt All-Conference honorees (first-team in Lowe’s case) in 2024.
The Malemutes open their season against Dimond and Bartlett on April 25-26, playing those teams on the opposite days that West Valley does. Lathrop will then host North Pole on Tuesday, April 29 and head down to the Mat-Su Valley with West Valley that weekend. The Malemutes finish the regular season against North Pole on Tuesday, May 20.
The Patriots start their season earlier than their aforementioned Fairbanks foes, both on the road and in the Interior. They visit Houston on Thursday, April 17 and Wasilla and Palmer over the next two days before playing Monroe Catholic in Fairbanks on Tuesday, April 22. They face West Valley and Lathrop over the following seven days before playing each once more and later closing the season against Redington on Friday, May 23.
North Pole finished 3-6-2 last season, missing the Division II state tournament for the first time since 2017, but returns leading goal scorer Julia Good, a junior.
Monroe Catholic, the lone Interior girls team to advance to the Division II state tournament last season, returns three of its four leading goal scorers from 2024: senior Mylee Nafpliotis, sophomore Maycee Nafpliotis and sophomore Valeria Martinez. Junior goalkeeper Emma Walsh also returns.
The Rams already started their season, defeating Houston 11-0 last weekend, and first play in Fairbanks next Tuesday, April 22 against North Pole. They’ll play West Valley one week later and have the latest regular season finale: May 24 against Redington.
Hutchison (0-6 last season), coached by Justice Soule, also opens its season at Houston, on Friday, April 25, and has three other games on its schedule, all against Mid Alaska Conference peers Monroe Catholic and North Pole.
The 2025 Alaska Soccer State Championships will be held May 29-31 at Colony, Palmer and Wasilla High Schools in the Mat-Su Valley. All games in the Fairbanks North Star Borough during the 2025 season will be held at the Artificial Turf Complex fields at 1966 Davis Road.
Contact Gavin Struve at gstruve@newsminer.com or 907-459-7544
