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Gavin Struve / News-Miner
West Valley sophomore defender Ilsa Butman moves upfield with the ball in the Wolfpack’s April 24 win over North Pole.
Gavin Struve / News-Miner
West Valley sophomore midfielder Ellie Abrahamson dribbles the ball in the Wolfpack’s April 24 win over North Pole.
West Valley High School’s girls soccer team defeated North Pole 4-1 on Thursday in the Wolfpack’s first 2025 match in Fairbanks.
The Wolfpack struck early, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes to bounce back from a loss in their previous match against Juneau-Douglas and improve to 2-1 overall this season ahead of an important weekend.
West Valley sophomore forward Kadence Witte scored the first goal at the seventh minute, and junior forward Anna Baysinger lofted a shot over the goaltender two minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
The Wolfpack went scoreless for the rest of the first half but opened the second half in almost an identical way to the manner in which they started the match with two quick goals. Grace Spencer scored from close range in the fifth minute of the second half, and she tapped in another goal on a rebound from almost the same spot two minutes later.
Witte, filling in as the backup goalie, prevented a score on a penalty kick midway through the second half by kicking the ball up in the air.
“Today’s game was more about getting everybody in there and kind of shaking off the rust and nerves before we play a couple of Anchorage teams this weekend,” West Valley head coach Shannon Staiger said postgame.
North Pole freshman Abby Hundley scored a goal in the final 30 seconds to make it a 4-1 final.
The Patriots (now 1-4 overall) have their next match Tuesday, April 29 against Lathrop. They’re playing all three Fairbanks teams in a one-week span after losing to Monroe Catholic this past Tuesday.
West Valley hosts Bartlett on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Dimond at noon Saturday before playing Monroe Catholic next Tuesday. West Valley and North Pole will meet once more, on May 15.
“It’ll be a good test for us,” Staiger said of the upcoming weekend matches. “Dimond’s one of the better teams in the state. They’re the reigning champions. So it’s a good litmus test for us as far as where we stack up with everybody. Hopefully we can pull out a win against Bartlett and show Dimond what we’re made of.”
A match between the West Valley boys and North Pole boys was expected to follow, but the Patriots forfeited due to not having enough players Thursday. That gave the Wolfpack boys — who haven’t lost to an Interior team since 2018 — their first win after an 0-2 start at Juneau-Douglas last weekend.
The Wolfpack boys also have a series of matches in close succession this weekend, as they host Bartlett on Friday at 7 p.m. and Dimond on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. North Pole’s next match is against Lathrop on Tuesday, April 29. The Wolfpack play Monroe Catholic next Tuesday. West Valley and North Pole will meet again May 15.
Contact Gavin Struve at gstruve@newsminer.com or 907-459-7544
Lathrop High School’s shooting guard Amy Pilon (#3) attempts a layup while defended by West Valley High School’s Aysha Peter (#33) in the first half of a girls basketball game on Feb. 14.
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