PORT ANGELES — The Sequim boys soccer players and coaches both said they’ve been working hard this season to improve the team’s set pieces.
On Thursday night, that work paid off.
The Wolves scored two goals on headers off corner kicks, and those two scores held up in a 2-0 win at Wally Sigmar Field over Bremerton as Sequim moved on to a winner-to-state match in the District 3 tournament.
Sequim (8-9-0) will next play Fife (14-3-1) at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood at 11 a.m. today, with the Port Angeles-Franklin Pierce game immediately following at the same venue. That is also a winner-to-state game. Those games will be broadcast on the NFHS Network.
Coach Dave Breckenridge said his team kept its composure in the face of Bremerton’s physical style of play. One Bremerton player was given a red card out of the game late in the second half.
“We didn’t play their game, and we kept our composure. We didn’t stoop to their level,” Breckenridge said. He said the team has been working hard in practice on corner kicks and set pieces.
“We’ve been working on that for weeks,” Breckenridge said.
“We’ve struggled all year with it,” said Nico Musso, who had Sequim’s second goal. “All the work we’ve done finally paid off.”
Bremerton (5-14) was the surprise team of the tournament, making it to the third round despite its poor record by beating Clover Park (10-5-2). The Knights also narrowly lost to a good Franklin Pierce team 2-1 and for the most part gave the Wolves all they could handle despite being shorthanded.
Evan Cisneros had a couple of good chances early against the Knights. He had a shot in the 16th minute that actually got through the Bremerton goalkeeper, but the ball stayed out. In the 21st minute, Cisneros had a high shot that forced the keeper to make a leaping save.
That shot helped create a corner kick, however. Sebastian Buhrer took the corner and Cisneros was rewarded when he headed the cross in for the Wolves’ first goal.
Sequim’s second goal in the 49th minute was nearly identical to the first, just at the other end of the field. Josh Alcaraz took the corner kick and this time Musso headed the ball in to give the Wolves an insurance goal. That score held up for the next 30-plus minutes as Bremerton put some pressure on but never got a shot past Sequim keeper Nolan Valenzuela.
It was the second postseason win for the Wolves, who also beat Steilacoom 2-1 in overtime in the district opener on the same field.
“This feels good,” Musso said. “The last two years, we haven’t even come close to making state. We’ve been building our chemistry and we’re getting there. I think we can get it.”
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
