Sequim’s Wolves are hitting their stride… and just in time.

SHS’s girls soccer squad picked up a pair of shutout wins — their third and fourth in a row — to close out the regular season and snag the Olympic League’ third seed to districts.

Just four days after routing Kingston on the road, Sequim shut out the Buccaneers 5-0 at home on Oct. 25.

Taryn Johnson had her fourth hat trick of the year in the win.

“Taryn is just amazing; she’s either assisting or scoring,” Sequim coach Ken Garling said.

Hannah Wagner also scored two goals. She drew a foul in the box and converted the penalty kick for one, and the other came on an assist from Alex Solis.

Addie Smith and Wagner combined in goal for the shutout.

“It’s always good to start hitting your forms at the end of the season. Hopefully that translates into a postseason push,” Garling said.

Garling said that while the Wolves have been getting a lot of scoring this year, especially from Johnson and Wagner, defense has been the key this year.

“I can’t say enough about our defenders,” he said.

Two days later, playing in front of home fans for the final time in 2021, the Wolves earned another big win with a 6-0 shutout of North Mason, jumping out to a four-goal lead by halftime.

“I think a lot of it is we are trying to play more to our strengths and our strength is in the attack,” Garling said.

Johnson netted a first-half hat trick and finished with four on the evening. She got Sequim on the score sheet in the second minute on a breakaway goal off a feed from Wagner.

Wagner notched a goal in the 14th minute, picking up the ball near midfield and combining on the play with Jenny Gomez.

Johnson then ripped off a pair of goals in a matter of minutes, scoring in the 26th and 28th minutes.

“It’s pretty special to have a player like that who has a nose for scoring and the striker’s mentality,” Garling said. “When she scores, she scores in bunches.”

Senior Zoe Moore scored in the second half for Sequim.

“Kaia Lestage played a good ball up, Taryn made a good through ball and Zoe the ball back in front of the keeper and essentially dribbled the ball into the back of the net,” Garling said. “It was a really well-put together goal.”

Wagner added the final goal, scoring in a scrum off a Johnson corner kick.

Postseason possibilities

The 16-team West Central District tourney was slated to kick off on Nov. 2 at higher seeds — results were not available at press time.

The double elimination tourney continues on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, with the top six teams advancing to the state 2A tournament.

Sequim (10-4-0) finished third among Class 2A Olympic League squad, behind Port Angeles (11-3) and North Kitsap (11-3).

Seeding for the 16-team West Central District Tournament is based on WIAA RPI rankings that finds the Wolves ranked 25th out of 61 2A teams. That means a district playoff seed likely somewhere in the middle of the pack.

“We will most likely be on the road and it’s good to see the girls in good form going into the postseason and relatively injury free,” Garling said.

See district tourney bracket updates at tinyurl.com/WCDgsoc21.

As teammate Hannah Wagner, second from left, looks on, Sequim’s Alliyah Weber keeps her eye on a bounding ball in the first half of an Oct. 27 game against North Mason. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim teammates Kariya Johnson (5) and Alliyah Weber celebrate a first-half goal by Taryn Johnson as the Wolves take on North Mason on Oct. 27. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell