PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys soccer team played 3A Bainbridge tough for the first half, but the Spartans erupted for six goals in the second half to win 8-1 Friday night at Wally Sigmar Field.
“The Riders set up a defensive shape that they worked on in practice and executed the game plan well to keep the Spartans from scoring,” said coach Chris Saari. “Freshman Jordan Saluskin got the start in goal for the Riders and made countless remarkable saves in both halves on a busy night for Port Angeles defensively.”
Port Angeles scored quickly in the second half in the 44th minute when Matthew Miller collected a pass from A.J. Martinez and beat two to three Spartans defenders before slipping the ball with his left foot past the goalkeeper to the near post.
The goal provided a spark for the Riders, Saari said, but Bainbridge responded quickly with goals in the 48th and 50th minutes. Bainbridge went on to score four more goals in the half.
Senior goalkeeper Braylon Helms came in for the last 10 minutes of the match to see his first varsity action.
“It was nice to see that we can score against one of the strongest teams in the league and stay with them defensively for more than half of the game,” Saari said. “We were proud of the players performance and the way they stuck together and made themselves better.”
Saari named Miller the offensive player of the match, Saluskin the defensive player of the match and Martinez, who finished with an assist, the transition player of the match.
The Riders (1-5-0, 2-6-0) get a long spring break and are back in action at 6:45 p.m. April 9 versus Bremerton (3-3-0, 3-3-0 at Wally Sigmar Field.
Forks 9, Tenino 0
TENINO — The Forks boys soccer team has erupted for 14 goals in its past two games, winning its second game in a row in a 9-0 rout over Tenino on Friday.
The Spartans got a hat trick in the first half from Luis Ornelas and Braden Camacho scored a pair of goals. Coach Ismael Ramos said that Darinel Garcia also had a beautiful long shot from the corner of the penalty box and put it in the far corner of the net.
Juan Terrones earned the shutout in goal.
The Spartans are also coming off a 5-0 win over Ilwaco on Wednesday.
“We’re starting to create offensively, which is nice,” Ramos said. “We’re starting to figure out how to create opportunities.”
The Spartans (2-5-0, 2-5-0) are off until April 10 when they will host Hoquiam (3-4-0, 3-6-0) at 7 p.m.
