Sequim’s girls soccer squad earned a third place finish at the class 2A B-District Tournament after knocking off Sammamish 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 4.
The Wolves will find out their state seeding later this weekend.
Sequim (13-4-0) fell to eventual district champ, top-seeded Fife (20-0-0) in the district semifinal on Thursday evening.
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 Tuesday evening, 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,” Sequim coach Ken 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’ Taryn Johnson, Jenny Gomez, Olive Bridge and Kaia Lestage all buried their penalty kicks.
The Wolves will play No. 1 seed Fife at 6 p.m. Thursday at Fife.
A win sends Sequim to the district title game set for 2 p.m. Nov. 4 while a loss sends SHS to the third-fourth place game against either North Kitsap or Sammamish, scheduled for noon that same day; both games are held at Sammamish High.
Against Enumclaw, Sequim went up 1-0 when Taryn 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. ”
The Wolves will find out their state tournament seed, opponent and date of their state tournament opener likely on Sunday.
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.
