POULSBO — The Port Angeles girls soccer team set a couple of program records, bouncing back from tough loss to powerhouse Bainbridge Friday night to beat Orting Saturday in a must-win game to qualify for the state 2A tournament.
Because of problems with the Hood Canal Bridge, the Roughriders had to play a pair of games against Bainbridge and Orting within 18 hours. The Riders lost 1-0 against Bainbridge to put themselves in a winner-to-state, loser-out game Saturday against Orting, which they won 2-0.
Coach Daniel Horton said that Bainbridge loss actually gave the Riders a lot of confidence because it was such a close game against one of the best teams in the state.
“That game really helped us play better [Saturday],” he said. “We played Bainbridge tough. We knew how difficult they are to shut out.”
And the Riders had to beat Orting without Mariah Traband, their second-leading scorer, who was out sick. Orting also came in to Saturday’s game having scored 11 goals in the district tournament. That didn’t matter against the Riders’ defense and their goalkeeper Kennedy Rognlien.
“Kennedy has been our anchor all year,” Horton said. Rognlien had six saves to preserve the shutout against Orting.
During the District 3 tournament, Port Angeles had three shutouts (against Washington, North Kitsap and Orting) and allowed just one postseason goal in 320 minutes of play. With the three postseason shutouts, the Riders have 12 for the season, which is a program record. They also have 16 wins on the season (16-4-0), also a program record.
Three of those four losses have been to 18-1 Bainbridge, which is ranked fourth in the state in RPI.
Port Angeles’ first goal against Orting came quickly in the seventh minute off a beautiful goal by Emma Desjardins. Sophia Ritchie made a long throw in to Desjardins, who had her back to the goal. She flicked the ball off her foot high in the air behind her back over the goalkeeper’s arms and just under the crossbar..
“That was a really impressive goal,” Horton said.
The Riders’ second goal came in the 25th minute off a rebound on a long, hard shot by Desjardins. Morgan Politika got to the rebound and booted the ball slowly toward the net and Becca Manson finished off the play by booting the ball hard into the net.
Port Angeles was seeded No. 11 in the state tournament with a game either Tuesday or Wednesday at No. 6 Hockinson (14-5).
The Olympic League dominated the district tournament with Bainbridge finishing first, Port Angeles third and North Kitsap fourth. Steilacoom was the only team from the South Puget Sound League to make state.
The Sequim girls also won a district tournament game, beating Franklin Pierce 3-2 in the opening round. They lost to Bainbridge 4-0 and lost to North Kitsap 8-1 on Friday in a loser-out game. The Wolves finish their season with a record of 7-11.
