For the Lady Wolves soccer team, the end of the season was likely to go down to the wire.

After five games going into overtime, Sequim (1-10 in league, 3-11-1 overall) took second-place Olympic League finishers the Olympic Trojans (10-2, 11-3-2) into two overtimes again this time at home on Oct. 29.

Wolves’ head coach Brittany Murdach said both teams recovered from a flat first half with Sequim’s defense upping the pressure and effort from their first head-to-head. She said they prevented and created more of their own shots compared to the Oct. 7 game where goalie Claire Henninger saved 20-plus shots through two overtimes.

Sequim and Olympic went through regulation tied at 0-0 and a first overtime this time too before the Trojans sunk a goal in the second overtime.

On the season, the Wolves lost seven games by one goal and lost six games in overtime with four of those in penalty kicks.

“Our record does not show how competitive we were with the top teams in the league,” Murdach said.

On Oct. 26, the Wolves recorded their first league win of the season 3-0 hosting Bremerton.

“We decided we weren’t going to take anything but a win,” Murdach said.

Team co-captain Adare McMinn said the win definitely felt good.

“We were in every single game and it finally went our way,” she said.

Sequim struck early with Gretchen Happe scoring 8 minutes in on an assist from Aylee Bennett and controlled the tempo throughout.

Bobbi Sparks scored at the end of the first half with Abby Hanstead on the assist. Hanstead later got in a goal from a corner kick from McMinn in the final two minutes of regulation, too.

Fellow players and audience members celebrated making a tunnel for the celebratory Wolves afterward.

“All of the pieces came together during that game,” Murdach said. “The girls truly deserved it.”

Looking ahead

The Wolves see four seniors, Mattie Clark, Gretchen Happe, Sarah Penrose and Kelly Anders, graduate this spring.

Murdach said Clark helped pick up the team after losses, Happe led by example, Penrose showed the team how to “leave it on the field” and Anders showed how to put the team first taking on any role needed.

Overall, Murdach, coaching her first season as varsity head coach, said she was pleased with the season that focused on building a new program foundation.

“The girls showed a very high level of commitment to the team and their teammates,” Murdach said. “They worked hard, improved throughout the course of the season and from my perspective had a great time along the way.”

The Wolves remained resilient and united, she said.

One example came after their first loss to Olympic in penalty kicks when the Sequim varsity and junior varsity teams ran to Henninger to support her.

“I loved seeing the team united like that,” Murdach said. “Throughout the season I told the girls that no matter, win, lose or draw, we stay united as a team … seeing the girls together after a tough loss says a lot about their character. It meant more to me than a win.”

Talking about the new foundation, Murdach said her players started something special for Sequim girls soccer.

“The coaching staff feels this is just the beginning,” she said.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.