Port Angeles freshman Becca Manson turned on the ball and lofted a well-placed lob from deep just past the outstretched finger tips of Sequim goalkeeper Kalli Grove and into the net for the winning goal in a 3-2 girls soccer victory over rival Sequim on Oct. 11.

“One of those funny ones,” Port Angeles coach Daniel Horton said. “The last couple of weeks we’ve needed a boost on offense, so we told her when there’s a situation that benefits us, push up and be offensive-minded. So the ball landed at her feet, she didn’t force a pass, but she made a good move, put a boot on it and put it just over the goalie’s head.”

The goal came in the 60th minute and gave Port Angeles its first lead of the game — having had to catch up to Sequim twice before on the scoreboard.

“This was really hard [game to win] because Sequim is a talented team, but I feel like it was another one of those games where we looked like the better team for much of the game, we’d control the ball on their end and keep possession, but one mistake and it was going the other way,” Horton said.

Sequim notched the first goal in the 36th minute when Aliyah Weber took the ball up the right side, made a few nifty moves before crossing the ball back to Taryn Johnson in space in the middle of the field. Johnson sent a right-to-left shot into the upper left corner.

“Aliyah is playing that right side of the diamond in midfield, she was aggressive in getting the ball upfield, and once she turned, she slotted a beautiful ball through to Taryn,” Sequim coach Ken Garling said. “It was an incredible hustle play and pass and a great finish.”

The Riders scored soon after when Julia Baeder sent in a shot from a tough right-to-left angle after Piper Williams saved possession on the sideline.

“That was a really surprising goal by Julia on the edge of the 18. You need that against a rival like Sequim,” Horton said.

Garling said his team had a post-goal let down.

“The next five minutes after scoring a goal, emotions are high, and they score off a looping kick from right to left,” Garling said.

Johnson answered in the 47th minute, as Johnson timed the entry pass of Raimey Brewer perfectly, racing past all four Port Angeles defenders and cruising around Riders goalie Saylah Commerton before depositing the ball softly in the back of the net.

“Raimey picked that ball up in the midfield, saw it, made a great through ball that split the two defenders,” Garling said. “I thought the PA keeper would get to it, but Taryn beat her to it and dribbled it in as cool and calm and composed as can be.”

Minutes later, Anna Petty earned a penalty kick off a throw-in for the Riders.

Manson’s goal followed three minutes later.

“We kept fighting and creating chances and PA saw the situation and started to slow the game down to run out the clock,” Garling said. “As a whole; [it was] probably our best game we played all season. We put a complete game together, stuck to our scheme of working to the width and created good scoring chances.”

He also praised midfielder Jenny Gomez for her two-way play.

“Jenny Gomez was vital to us in midfield, just a relentless player, defending and getting us on the counterattack,” Garling said.

“At the end of the day, these girls fought and gave it their best,” he said. “I’m very proud. We had our chances down the stretch … but it was good fun.”

Coming up

Sequim’s Oct. 13 match at Olympic was postponed because of poor air quality; a make-up date has not been announced at press time.

The Wolves (5-4 in Olympic League and overall) were scheduled to host North Kitsap on Oct. 18 — results were not available at press time. Sequim lost at NK 5-1 on Sept. 22.

Sequim hosts Bainbridge on Oct. 20 and is at Bremerton on Oct. 25 before finishing the regular season at home against Kingston on Oct. 27.

The West Central District tourney is set for Nov. 1-5, with the league leaders from Olympic, South Puget Sound and KingCo as top seeds and the remaining 13 entries ranked by a seeding committee. Higher-seeded teams host games in the first two rounds, with championship bracket games at Franklin Pierce High School (Tacoma) and consolation bracket games at North Mason (Belfair) Nov. 4-5.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Jennyfer Gomez vies for the ball with Port Angeles’ Piper Williams as Rider Becca Manson looks on in the Roughriders’ 3-2 win in Sequim on Oct. 11.

Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim’s Teagen Moore looks for a teammate as Port Angeles’ Becca Manson gives chase in a 3-2 PA win in Sequim on Oct. 11.