Updated: 14 seconds agoSouth Anchorage’s Alise Adkins attempts to move the ball past Dimond’s Kaiulani Mateaki during the Division I girls state soccer championship game at West Anchorage High School on Saturday, May 27, 2023.
One of the returning players who’s already taken on a more prominent role through the team’s first two games is sophomore Addysen Gasser. The Wolverines don’t feel any additional pressure being the defending state champions because they have “very high expectations” for themselves and expect to get their opponents’ best when they take the field.
“We had a tough playoff game last year against West Valley,” she said. “They gave us a run for our money and we had to change some things to be able to get a result. Nonconference opponents can give us some surprises and can push and stretch us in ways we didn’t see during the regular season.”Coming up short of a four-peat in last year’s state finals, Dimond is highly motivated to return to the state title game.