SEQUIM — The Port Angeles girls soccer team bounced back with three goals in the second half, two of them in the waning minutes, to get past a spirited Sequim team 3-1.
With the win, the Roughriders cemented their third-place position in the Olympic League with a chance to finish second as second-place North Kitsap has to play undefeated Bainbridge next week. Sequim, meanwhile, is in playoff position in the middle of the pack in fifth place.
Port Angeles could help Sequim’s playoff positioning by beating Kingston next week, while Sequim could help Port Angeles by beating North Kitsap tonight.
Port Angeles’ Mariah Traband called the win over Sequim a big one, particularly after a 2-0 Roughriders’ win over North Kitsap in Poulsbo last week.
“It’s nice to be on a streak,” she said. “We’ve got to carry that momentum into the postseason.”
Sequim coach Vianey Cadenas said the Wolves knew Port Angeles was going to be tough.
“It was everything you’d want in a soccer game,” she said.
Cadenas said she felt the team’s backline followed their gameplan well, and Sequim controlled most of the game’s tempo until the last 15 minutes of gameplay, when the Riders scored two of their three goals.
“I’m not disappointed in the girls at all,” she said. “They’re always gritty.”
Sequim’s assistant coach Kelsey Chapman said she thought the Wolves played great, and that they kept up their energy and enthusiasm all game.
Port Angeles goalkeeper Kennedy Rognlien makes one of her diving saves Tuesday against Sequim. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim dictated the tempo through the first half and Riders’ goalkeeper Kennedy Rognlien was instrumental in keeping the game close early as the Wolves could have gotten up big if not for her. The Wolves struck first on a great through pass to Kaiya Robinson, who converted the play into a goal 14 minutes into the game.
Sequim had three more golden chances to score when one long, high shot went off the crossbar, followed quickly by Rognilen making back-to-back diving saves on two point-blank shots.
“I told Kennedy after the game, ‘Thank you for keeping us in it in that first half’, ” said Port Angeles coach Daniel Horton.
It appeared Port Angeles perhaps tied the game late in the half when Traband scored, but the play was quickly nullified by offsides and the Riders’ celebration was short-lived.
Port Angeles had another golden opportunity to score late in the half with four or five Roughriders getting off shots deep in the Sequim penalty box in a flurry of activity that lasted half a minute. But Sequim had the box packed with defenders and they effectively blocked every shot to keep the Riders off the scoreboard.
“Twenty seconds is a lot of time in soccer,” Horton said. “That 15 to 20 seconds felt like an eternity.”
The score remained 1-0 for Sequim entering the half. Horton said the Riders were a different team in the second half.
“Our team looked totally different,” Horton said. “That was all the players. It was all them.
“We told them go out there and play soccer and you’ll be fine,” Horton said.
The Riders tied the game in the 50th minute on a goal from Becca Manson after a fantastic long crossing pass from the left sideline by Emma Desjardins.
The game remained tied 1-1 through most of the second half when Lily Anne Lancaster scored in the 74th minute after a spectacular play from Teanna Clark. Clark stole the ball from Sequim, slipped and fell to the ground, and then sitting on the ground, made a perfect pass to Lancaster, who beat a defender and booted a long shot from 25 yards out for a go-ahead score.
In stoppage time, Lancaster scored again with an insurance goal on a nice crossing pass again from Desjardins.
Port Angeles (9-3, 11-3) hosts Bremerton (4-8, 6-8) at 7:15 p.m. today at Peninsula College, while Sequim (5-7, 5-8) hosts North Kitsap (10-2, 11-3) at 7 p.m. today.
In another game Tuesday, Annie Wright beat East Jefferson 7-1.
