With both teams shuttling players into new spots in their respective lineups due to injuries, Port Angeles scored a pair of first-half goals and held on despite a late Sequim strike by Olivia Hare for a 2-1 Olympic League girls soccer win over the rival Wolves in windy weather on Feb. 26.
Some of the Roughriders’ (2-1) more experienced players put in the work early to lift Port Angeles to a 2-0 halftime lead.
Port Angeles controlled possession for much of the early going and had its best scoring chance go high over the bar when Hannah Reetz couldn’t quite control a low cross along the goal line from Millie Long in the 21st minute.
Given a second chance on almost a mirror image pass from Long three minutes later, Reetz got enough of her midsection on a Millie Long cross to bump the ball into the net to give the Riders a 1-0 advantage.
“Millie had a beautiful cross in front and it was wide open and I missed the first one, it went over,” Reetz said. “And I remember going back on defense after that and thinking, ‘I have to get this back.’ My heart sunk.
And Millie made it up, she shoots bullets in there and sometimes I just need to touch it with my body and it will go in. I used my stomach (to direct the ball into the goal).”
Long had a part in the Riders’ next goal in stoppage time just before halftime when her left footed shot was blocked by a number of Wolves’ defenders and onto the foot of on-rushing Anna Petty who blasted the ball into the goal for a 2-0 lead at the break.
“(Petty) had a banger of a goal and just controlling in the midfield,” Port Angeles coach Scott Moseley. “She provides a strong force there.”
The game remained 2-0 until the 69th minute. Hare, who has an extremely strong leg and has converted on free kick and penalty shootout goals in the past, moved from goalkeeper to position player and made the move count.
Sequim (2-2) earned a free kick just past midfield on the right side of the field. Hare then bent a right-to-left blast in the wind from around 35 yards out into the net for the energizing goal the Wolves desperately needed.
“A bit of a spark,” Wolves coach Derek Vander Velde said of Hare’s goal. “Even when she’s a keeper and we are pushed high we let her kick it. She knows her role, she heard me talk about the wind, we talked about all that. She steps up when we really need it to count.”
Sequim chased for the tying goal in the final 10 minutes of the match and beyond a few nervous moments, couldn’t get a good look on goal.
Vander Velde said his team had picked up some injuries during the week.
“From the get go, what we had planned we came into it like, ‘Oh, that’s not going to work,’” Vander Velde said. “We had to throw some players into other positions and with the rivalry there’s always some nerves, so there was a little bit of disjointedness.”
Sequim was without Hannah Wagner and Amara Sayer, two of its best players at forward and defender, respectively. They are expected to return for next Saturday’s (March 6) rematch against Port Angeles at Peninsula College.
Topping the Trojans
Wagner and Abby Schroeder combined on a header goal, freshman Taryn Johnson converted on a breakaway, and Hare picked up the shutout in the Wolves’ 2-0 win at Olympic on Feb. 24.
“It was tough. It was pretty rough competition between the teams — not malicious in any way — just a good tough game for both sides,” Vander Velde said. “We played our best so far, and it’s been nice to see the amount of growth we have made.”
Vander Velde said the Wolves struck first in the game’s early going.
“We got a free kick about 30 yards out, and Abby Schroeder took the free kick, and it bounced over the keeper’s head, and Hannah Wagner was there to head it in. Another Abby and Hannah header-goal combination.”
The duo also paired up on another headed goal by Wagner in a win over Kingston the week prior.
Sequim notched the insurance goal just after halftime.
“Liv kicked the ball clear, and Natalya James got a hold of it and sent a ball behind the Olympic back line,” Vander Velde said. “Taryn Johnson, one of our freshmen, was able to run onto the ball. The goalie came out, and she was able to loft it past her. It was one of those ‘wow’ goals.”
Vander Velde said Sayer, a senior center back, had an excellent contest, as did freshman Kaia Lestage.
“Amara has really taken to mentoring Kaia this season, and Kaia is showing what she is capable of,” Vander Velde said.
Freshman Zoe Moore and sophomore Alliyah Weber also did well to shut Olympic down and preserve the shutout late in the contest.
“With our short season and the numbers that we have, having players that can swing from JV to varsity has been a real strong point for us,” Vander Velde said.
Coming up
Sequim is as Chimacum on Wednesday, March 3, and Port Angeles on Saturday, March 6, before a home match up with Klahowya on Tuesday, March 9.
The Wolves are at Kingston on Saturday, March 13, before finishing the abbreviated season on Tuesday, March 16, at home against Olympic.
Sequim home games allow for up to two family members per student-athlete.
Check out livestream and recorded games on youtube at tinyurl.com/SHSgirlssoccer2021.
Port Angeles’ Emilia Long, left, and Sequim’s Abby Schroeder vie for the ball in the first half of Port Angeles’ 2-1 win at Sequim on Feb. 26. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
Port Angeles’ Jada Cargo (19) and Sequim’s Bailey Geniesse (7) look to control a bounding ball in the first half of a match-up between cross-peninsula rivals on Feb. 26. Port Angeles’ Emilia Long (10) and Sequim’s Abby Schroeder (16) look on. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
Port Angeles’ Anna Petty, left, andSequim’s Natalya James vie for the ball in PA’s 2-1 win at Sequim on Feb. 26. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
Sequim’s Rileigh Van Dyken, center, looks to settle a throw-in from a teammate in the first half of a Feb. 26 home match-up with Port Angeles. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
Sequim High School seniors Abby Schroeder, left, and Oliva Hare signed letters of intent to play at Lower Columbia College last week. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
Sequim High School seniors Abby Schroeder, left, and Oliva Hare signed letters of intent to play at Lower Columbia College last week. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell
