Women’s Soccer Has Many Returning Starters, Challenging Schedule

Many of the stars from last year's history-making women's soccer team are back in blue and red for the 2025 fall season. They'll be looking to get their scoring gears engaged when the Eagles play their only preseason home game of the season this Friday afternoon against Mendocino.

Siskiyous' roster features Golden Valley Conference Attacking Player of the Year Brooklyn Wade from Yuma, AZ, and Goalkeeper of the Year Avery Suhr from Greeley, CO. Forward Maddie Towner of Mount Shasta was 1st Team All-Conference, and midfielder Corynn Lemos of Redding was 2nd Team All-Conference.

Several other starters who made huge contributions to the first Siskiyous soccer team to qualify for the postseason have also returned: forwards Maiyah Mcdonald from Central Point, OR, and Jonell Alderson from Palo Cedro; defensive line starters Harrisen Poe from Medford, OR, and Meadow Cummings from Yreka; and midfielder Katie Effa from Redding.

This year's roster is sophomore-rich with goalkeeper Oceanna Knight from Anderson, defenders Marissa Whitt from Central Point and Izabella Ault from Anderson, and midfielder Cheyenne Thompson from Priest River, ID.

They all played a role a year ago as an often dominating Eagles team posted a school-record 13 wins, including a victory in the state playoffs.

Returning GVC Coach of the Year Ed Kephart said some very good first-year players have been added to help replace the few key players who graduated. They are forward Sam Gish from White City, OR, defender Hailey Walton from Palo Cedro, midfielders Taya Martinelli from Redding and Jaclynn Wolf from Sanger near Fresno, and goalkeeper Deja Payne from Crescent City.

Gish played basketball for the Eagles last winter and is "a heck of a good soccer player," Kephart said. Walton, Martinelli and Wolf are all talented, according to the coach, and Payne "will help for sure."

Overall, Kephart sees the Eagles "trending upwards from last year," while they're still in the process of putting it all together. They're playing a tougher schedule this season because some teams have improved and some of last year's preseason opponents decided they didn't want to play the Eagles. Plus, Kephart added, "Nobody is taking us for granted now."

So far, the defense has mostly played well, but the offense hasn't clicked. The Eagles lost their first two matches of the season after long road trips, 2-0 to an improved Foothill team and 2-1 to a Las Positas team that made the playoffs last year.

They'll host Mendocino Friday at 2 p.m. before going on the road to face two Bay Area teams next Tuesday and Thursday, Chabot and Merritt.

Last year the Eagles beat Foothill 1-0 and were 1-0-1 when they started hitting on all cylinders with a 5-0 win at Mendocino. That was the start of a nine-game win streak during which they outscored opponents by a combined 46-0. It ended with a 1-1 tie against Feather River in the third conference game of the season. Siskiyous went on to finish 5-3-2 in conference and 13-4-3 overall, including a 2-1 win over Los Medanos in the first round of the state playoffs and a loss to Sierra in the second round. Sierra and perennial GVC champion Lake Tahoe both lost close games in the semifinal round of the NorCal Regionals.

Brooklynn Wade finished her first year as an Eagle second in the state with 32 goals, a total that shattered the school's previous single season scoring record of 19.

Avery Suhr had 58 saves and a .725 save percentage, including saving 4 of 5 attempts in the PK period of the Eagles' playoff win.

Maddie Towner finished 3rd in state with 14 assists and was 2nd on the team and 9th in conference with 24 points.

Corynn Lemos, the team's "on-field midfield general," according to Kephart, and Maiyah McDonald scored 6 goals each.

Kephart praised Oceanna Knight and Cheyenne Thompson for "putting in a ton of work and getting better" during the offseason, and he said Izabella Ault has improved after hip surgery.

Two new assistant coaches join Kephart and Jake Leiffer on the Eagles' staff: Dave Schmidt, a teacher and coach from Mount Shasta, and former Eagle goalkeeper Nyjel Buchanon, who was one of the first two Siskiyous soccer players to transfer to a four-year school in 2017. He is helping this year's goalkeepers while working on his teaching credential.

The Eagles will play four of their first five conference games on the road starting at Feather River in late September. So, they'll finish the regular season with four of five at home, including the last three in a row from Oct. 28 to Nov. 11.

Kephart expects another challenging GVC campaign. He wasn't sure about Shasta but said "Tahoe has reloaded, Feather River is always tough, Butte had a good recruiting year, and Redwoods has a new coach who did some good recruiting."

By Steve Gerace