PORT ANGELES —The Sequim boys soccer team impressed coach Dave Brasher enough in a 4-1 dismantling of rival Port Angeles at Civic Field to offer his Wolves a one-day respite from practice.
Such was the jovial atmosphere after Sequim, led by a hat trick by sophomore Liam Harris, controlled much of the final 70 minutes of Thursday’s Olympic League 2A Division match.
Brasher believed Harris’ three-goal night was the first he had witnessed between the rivals in his 20-year coaching career.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened,” Brasher said.
“Not in my 20 years, at least.”
A post-match celebration didn’t seem as promising for the Wolves in the early going against the Roughriders.
Tim Meyer sent a shot just over the bar in the fifth minute for Port Angeles.
A minute later Sequim goal keeper Austin Wagner gathered in a shot by Scott Methner just before Andrew St. George could put a boot on the ball from point-blank range.
“[We] started out strong with good passing and possession,” Riders coach Chris Saari said.
Meyer broke through in the 10th minute to put Port Angeles up 1-0.
Meyer poked the ball away from the Wolves, outran defender Christian Benson and sent a low shot past a diving Wagner.
The Riders had a chance to score another goal moments later when a turnover resulted in a breakaway down the left flank for midfielder Grayson Peet.
Peet hesitated a moment before sending in his shot, and the brief pause allowed time for Wagner to set himself and make the save.
Bogged down in midfield offensively for much of the first half, the Wolves needed a spark, and Harris provided one with a well-placed free kick in the 25th minute.
“Thomas [Winfield], on the outside left, won that foul for us,” Harris said.
“I’ve been practicing those free kicks to the far post and was just trying to hit it solidly to that far post and it snuck through.”
The kick drew raves from Brasher.
“We were up to our usual slow-start and we needed to get that first goal,” Brasher said.
“And that was a beauty from Liam. He totally hit it true.”
Wagner walled off another Meyer breakaway in the 33rd minute.
“I gave Austin the man of the match for playing great tonight and keeping us in it,” Brasher said.
“He had a number of double saves for us, stopped some breakaways, and was on his game.”
Sequim added a second goal off of a free kick moments later in the 34th minute.
Cameron Chase sent in a curving right-to-left kick to the far left post and the ball was headed in by Port Angeles’ Spencer Beverford-Stewart for an own goal and a 2-1 Sequim lead at halftime.
“That was a gorgeous kick,” Brasher said of Chase’s strike.
“I’m not sure if it was on a line to go in goal, but it was on target enough to give them trouble.”
Harris made it 3-1 with a shot to the upper right corner of the goal in the 47th minute.
“The first one was a nice flick off my striking partner Konnor Parish,” Harris said.
“He got up, won that ball and flicked it through for me, and I tried to make the most out of that assist and finish it off.”
Harris booted his first chance at sealing the hat trick over the bar in the 52nd minute.
But he was on target for the game-sealing goal three minutes later.
“That was a beautiful throw-in from our right back J.T. [McElhose],” Harris said.
“He was calling for somebody to get in there and get a head on it and I got in there, tried to win the first ball and knocked in the second one.” Port Angeles, which has lost four of its last five games, didn’t offer anything in the way of a comeback for the remainder of the game.
That can be credited to a solid job defensively by the Wolves’ back line, according to Harris.
“Apart from the first goal, our defense played extraordinarily well,” Harris said.
“I thought our center back Christian Benson, our left back Evan James and our right back J.T. all had outstanding games.
“They stay composed, they are calm and they are all solid players. They keep us in line. And we try to reward them by scoring some goals for them.
“And Austin had a couple of double and triple saves and some saves on some breakaways for us.”
Sequim’s win, its fifth in six games, was important in the playoff race.
It puts Sequim (4-4-0, 7-5-0) a game back of Port Angeles (5-3-0, 7-4-1) for third place in Olympic League 2A Division play.
“It’s the first win against one of the three teams ahead of us — Kingston, PA and North Kitsap. So this was a real good win for us,” Brasher said.
The Wolves host North Mason (0-7-0, 2-9-0) on Tuesday.
Port Angeles hosts Bremerton (3-5-0, 4-7-1) on Tuesday.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
