Sequim survived the consolation bracket and advanced to the Class 2A boys soccer state tournament for the first time since 2010 with a late score in a 2-1 win over Washington on May 12 at Franklin Pierce High School.

Spanish exchange student Hayuk Minano scored the game-winner with just two minutes remaining in regulation as the Wolves triumphed, earning the fifth seed out of the West Central District Tournament.

The Wolves (13-5-2) were slated to face Toppenish (15-3-0), the top seed out of the Central Washington Athletic Conference, in the state tournament — likely in the Yakima area — on May 15; results were not available at press time.

Sequim coach Dave Brasher said Saturday’s game-winning goal came about after a “great buildup.”

“Adrian Funston took the ball up the left side and Evan James overlapped him and put a cross in (toward the goal),” Brasher said.

Sophomore Ryan Tolberd played decoy on the play, letting the ball scoot past without a touch. Minano was there at the six-yard mark and punched it past the Washington keeper.

“We finally settled it down and the goal at the end was really nice,” Brasher said. “It was great passing and an excellent finish.”

Brasher said the team celebrated its achievement with an “On to state” chant.

Tolberd put Sequim up 1-0 in the 11th minute, scoring his 21st goal of the season — breaking his own school single-season mark.

“We played pretty well in the first half,” Brasher said. “We got our first goal in the 11th minute when Funston cut it to Tolberd and he drilled a shot to the right corner.”

The Wolves allowed the equalizer seven minutes into the second half on a “fluky little goal” and the game turned ugly, Brasher said.

“It was the third game in five days for each team and both teams were getting tired. It wasn’t very pretty.”

Brasher said Chris Morgan and Mathew Craig played well on the back line and Liam Stevenson was solid in goal.

Brasher named senior midfielder Liam Harris the team’s man of the match for his great play in the middle.

Wolves edge Bucs in consolation semis

Earlier in the week, Sequim eliminated Olympic League champion Kingston from the district tournament with a strong defensive performance in a 2-1 victory on May 10 in Silverdale..

It was Sequim’s second win in three games against the Buccaneers this season.

“We had that tough one (on April 27) that cost us the league title, so to knock them out in convincing fashion did feel pretty good,” Brasher said.

“I thought we had most of the play during the game and we scored early in the sixth minute.”

Tolberd set up the first score, challenging the Kingston keeper on a 50/50 ball that Minano collected and netted for a 1-0 Sequim lead.

“Our speed was showing early,” Brasher said. “Ryan had another chance at a goal but put it wide and the game settled down a bit after that and (Kingston) started to play better.”

The Buccaneers tied it up in the 29th minute, scoring on a long free kick. But Sequim reclaimed the lead for good six minutes into the second half, with Minano launching a corner kick that Tolberd deflected for the game-winner.

Brasher said the Wolves didn’t just sit back and defend their one-goal lead, but looked for an insurance score in the game’s final 34 minutes.

“We were trying not to repeat what happened against Highline (in their previous district game, a 3-2 loss),” Brasher said.

“We tried to be aggressive and go after the third goal and we had chances.”

Those chances included a Funston shot that went wide at 50 minutes and a Mike McAleer shot that nearly found net at 64 minutes.

Sequim’s defense held fast — led by Craig, who Brasher named as his man of the match, and Morgan.

“Mathew Craig had a great game in the back,” Brasher said. “He was organizing the defense and winning balls in the air. He was excited. Chris Morgan came into the game and had a couple of nice clear-outs.”

Close loss in semis

After knocking off Orting in the district opener on May 5, Sequim jumped out to a lead against No. 2-seeded Highline in the district semifinals on May 8 but wound up on the losing end of a 3-2 decision.

Highline (13-2-1 coming into the game) got on the board early with a goal on a breakaway by Edwin Ochoa. The Wolves responded with a goal in the 15th minute by Liam Harris on a long pass from James, who picked up the assist.

In the 32nd minute, the Wolves took a 2-1 lead. The score began with a shot by Tolberd that the goalie punched toward Minano, who then crossed the ball to McAleer for a goal.

In the second half, the Pirates scored a pair of goals and kept the Wolves off the board.

“We were a little tentative in the second half. I think we were trying to protect the lead,” Brasher said.

In the 61st minute, a penalty was called on the Wolves in the box. Brasher said he isn’t sure what the penalty was called for, but the Pirates converted the kick to tie it at 2-2. Highline came back with another goal in the 74th minute with a free kick near the corner kick area that was crossed in front of the goal for a header by Jack Madsen.

Sequim very nearly tied it in the waning minutes. The Wolves’ Minano headed a pass past the goalie, but the ball caught the crossbar and stayed out.

“We had good pressure at the end, we just couldn’t quite get it done,” said Brasher.

Wolves, Vikes advance

Out of four Olympic League entries, Sequim and North Kitsap were the survivors of district play, moving on to the state 2A tourney.

North Kitsap beat Clover Park, Washington and Fife in succession to take the No. 3 district seed to state.

Port Angeles beat Renton 5-1 in the opener but fell to eventual district champion Franklin Pierce 1-0, then lost to Washington in penalty kicks (6-5). Kingston lost both of their district games, a 3-1 decision to Fife before getting knocked out by Sequim.