PORT ANGELES — The Roughrider soccer girls learned a painful and valuable lesson to never put too much stock in a win-loss record.
The Roughriders were riding high after knocking off powerful Olympic last week and came in to the Sequim match gunning for undisputed first place in the Olympic League 2A Division. Sequim came in to Port Angeles on Tuesday 0-6 and in last place in the Olympic League 2A Division.
And the Wolves, riding a very stingy defense that only allowed the Riders a couple of serious shots on goal in the second half, ended up shocking Port Angeles 2-0.
“These guys are our rivals … and we’ve have a really bad losing streak. To get ahead 2-0 is the best thing in the world,” said Sequim’s Jessica Dietzman.
“We’re not giving up,” Dietzman’s teammate Yana Hoesel said. “We’re still in this thing.”
Riders coach Scott Moseley said he warned his players that this was a trap game.
“We just had a big win. They’re going to be fired up and they’re going to be dangerous,” Moseley said. He said Sequim “clearly outplayed us. We weren’t sharp with our offense. Sequim’s defense played a really good game.”
Looking at the Wolves’ games this year, perhaps the win shouldn’t have been that big of a shock. Sequim has had a hard-luck season. The Wolves have had six matches this year in which they gave up two or fewer goals and they have only given up 10 goals in eight of their matches.
Sequim has lost two matches in shootouts and lost two other matches by one goal. That’s four matches that could have easily gone the other way. Instead of being 2-7-1, the Wolves could be 6-3-1 with any luck.
When asked what made the difference in the match, Sequim Coach Derek Vandervelde pointed to his head.
“Positive outlook, that’s what it. It’s a mental state,” he said.
“They [the Wolves’ players] don’t stop and they haven’t stopped all year,” Vandervelde said.
He conceded that losing by shootouts and one-goal losses “can be demoralizing. But this team is pretty resilient.”
“Staying 100 percent positive. That’s what coach tries to nail into our brains,” Dietzman said.
The Riders completely controlled the action early with the ball in Sequim’s end of the field at least 75 percent of the time. However, as much as Port Angeles controlled possession and had the ball in the Wolves’ end, they got few real scoring chances. Millie Long beat several Wolves’ defenders to set up a shot on goal by Delaney Wenzl and Long later made a cross that was chested right into goaltender Olivia Hare’s hands by Bailee Larson. Later, a shot by Long was blocked in front by Wolves’ defenders; she got her own rebound and shot the ball wide. The half ended 0-0.
The early part of the second half was much the same with the Riders controlling the action, but slowly, the Wolves started getting more aggressive on offense.
The Riders’ best scoring chance of the match came on a long run by Long, who got behind the Wolves’ defenders and had a clear shot point-blank that was saved by Hare.
Finally, Sequim got its chance in the 63rd minute. After a corner kick, the referee ruled that the Riders pushed a Sequim girl in the penalty area, giving the Wolves a corner kick. Yana Hoesel banked her penalty kick off the right post to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.
The action was furious over the final 17 minutes and the Riders kept forcing the action, desperate to tie it. Port Angeles had three close free kicks late, but all three missed the mark.
Meanwhile, the Wolves got an insurance goal late in the match when Ryan found Hannah Wagner wide open on a crossing pass in front of the Riders’ net. Wagner booted the ball in for a 2-0 lead. Ryan nearly made the score 3-0 moments later when a shot of hers hit the crossbar.
Sequim midfielder Abby Shroeder was injured late in the first half when she banged heads with the Riders’ Kyrsten McGuffey going after a cross in front of the Wolves’ goal. Schroeder had to leave the game at halftime and was later disagnosed with a concussion, while McGuffey was allowed back in the match after she was checked by a medical professional.
“[Schroder] is doing OK,” Vandervelde said.
The loss drops the Riders into third place at 5-2 and 15 points, just behind Olympic (6-1, 17 points) and North Kitsap (6-1, 19 points).
Incredibly, despite starting league 0-6, the Wolves actually have a real shot at the postseason. Because they lost two league matches in shootouts, Sequim actually has five points, just two points behind fourth-place Bremerton.
The Riders (5-2, 7-3) will look to bounce back on the road against Kingston (1-6, 2-8) today. The Wolves (1-6, 2-7-1) host Bremerton (3-4 7 points, 5-4-1) at 6:45 p.m. today. A win in that match could vault the Wolves into fourth place.
The Wolves were back on their heels on defense for much of the match early, but counterstriked at times, with Daisy Ryan making a dangerous cross that trickled across the goalmouth at the Riders’ end.
