With two wins in three contests at the lass 2A B-District Tournament last week, Sequim’s girls soccer squad is headed back to the class 2A state tournament.
The Wolves (13-4-0) are seeded No. 10 in the state tourney and was scheduled to play on the road at No. 7 Ridgefield (16-3) on Nov. 7 or Nov. 8; see sequimgazette.com for updates.
Sequim got a monster game from Raimey Brewer to fend off Sammamish 3-2 in overtime for the third-place bi-district tournament trophy on Nov. 4.
Brewer had a role in all three Sequim goals, all coming on set pieces. After Sammamish took a 1-0 lead into the half, the Wolves got a goal by Kiley Winter on a Brewer corner kick to knot the score at 1-1. Brewer hit another corner kick that was headed in by Taryn Johnson to make it 2-1.
“Raimey does a great job of putting the ball in dangerous areas,” Sequim coach Ken Garling said.
Sammamish scored in the 64th minute to make it 2-2. The game remained tied through regulation and the first overtime.
About two minutes into the second overtime, Sequim was able to draw a penalty just outside the box, giving the Wolves a close free kick. Brewer again took the kick, hitting a “nice looping” shot, Garland said, into the net to give Sequim the win.
On Nov. 2, Sequim fell 4-0 to eventual district champ, top-seeded Fife (20-0-0) in the district semi-final. The Wolves and Trojans could very well meet again in the state 2A tourney; the winner of the Sequim-Ridgefiled game meets the winner of the Fife-Clarkston game on Nov. 10 or 11, in another winner-moves-on-, loser-out contest.
State berth secured
A pair of late goals helped Sequim tie it up and a dominant performance in the penalty kick round helped SHS come away with a 4-3 win in the class 2A B-District Tourney opener at Enumclaw on Oct. 31, securing the Wolves’ third state appearance in the program’s history and first since 2019.
Sequim, seeded fifth at districts, displayed its season-long ability to stick together in tight moments in the win over No. 4-seed Enumclaw.
“Absolutely, these girls do not stop, they don’t quit,” Garling said. “They can score goals in bunches, and that’s what happened last night. They were very satisfied. When they realized this is what we set out to accomplish and to do it in such a dramatic fashion it was a big celebration.”
Sequim goalkeeper Kalli Grove made two penalty kick saves in the shootout and the Wolves’ Johnson, Jenny Gomez, Olive Bridge and Kaia Lestage all buried their penalty kicks.
Sequim went up 1-0 when Johnson booted in a goal from deep, about 35 yards out, according to Garling.
Enumclaw took advantage of a Sequim defensive miscue to tie it up at 1-1 at halftime.
The Hornets then converted on a penalty kick when the Wolves were whistled for a handball in the goal box and found the net once more in the 63rd minute to go up 3-1.
“We knew we needed something to turn the tide and get back into the game,” Garling said. “We made some adjustments in midfield and started playing a more direct style. We were able to open things up a bit and attack from the sides.”
Johnson made it 3-2 in the 72nd off a crossing pass from Eve Breithaupt.
Gomez scored a few minutes later to tie the game.
“She made a half turn about 20 yards out and made a beautiful shot to the upper-90,” Garling said. “So the momentum had totally shifted and we went through the overtimes tied up.”
Garling said his team continually works on penalty kick situations in practice.
“Penalty kicks, we always are working on them and continue to work on them,” Garling said. “Our girls were confident and we made them all.
“And Kalli Grove comes in and makes two incredible saves in goal. She’s been reading them well all season long and she came up huge again.”
“It was a great team win. We celebrated that and it gets us to our next opponent, Fife, another big-time opponent on the road. ”
Sequim was 1-1 at districts last season and missed state by a pair of wins. The Wolves won a district title in 2018 for their first-ever state berth; they lost to Ellensburg in penalty kicks after a scoreless two halves and overtimes. In 2019, Sequim earned another state berth, falling to Ridgefield 3-0 in the opening round.
