Sequim Gazette staff

Needing some wins — and wins on the road against a pair of playoff-bound teams — Sequim’s boys soccer squad fell one spot short of the postseason.

Losses on May 1 at Olympic and May 3 in Kingston kept the Wolves from the fifth and final 2A district playoff seed last week.

“I was a little surprised more than disappointed,” Sequim coach Dave Brasher said about missing the playoffs.

“I thought going in we were going to compete for at least one of the top playoff spots. (We) never quite got it together.”

On May 1, the team Sequim was chasing — Olympic — defended its home turf with a 2-0 win, getting two first-half scores from Ricky Wright, the first coming on a penalty kick.

Two days later, Kingston jumped out to a 4-1 before the Wolves twice trimmed the lead.

Late scores by Ryan Pinza (unassisted) and Lorenzo Gonzalez (penalty kick) were not enough.

“Fun final game — we finally got three goals,” Brasher said. “(But) we gave up four set-play goals.”

Sequim sees several key seniors from its varsity squad graduate this June, including goalkeeper Byron Boots, defender Irons Ring and forwards Waylon Lam and Mitch McHugh.

A perennial league contender, Sequim managed four wins this fall — its lowest total since 2001.

“I don’t think as a team we played together,” Brasher said. “Lot of good athletes. The main thing really was scoring goals. In soccer, you need a break here and there. We just never seemed to get the break, the bounce here and there. The good thing was, we never really got blown out all year. We were in every game. The kids never, not one game, did they just give up.”