SEQUIM — The Port Angeles and Sequim soccer girls battled came within a rattled crossbar of a draw as they renewed their friendly, yet heated Rainshadow Rumble rivalry.
The Roughriders were breathing a sigh of relief as they hung on by their fingernails to a 1-0 victory.
“That was so stressful,” Rider defender Cheyenne Wheeler exclaimed after the game.
These two teams played each other three times last year, once with a state tournament berth on the line in the Class 2A District Tournament, with Port Angeles winning two matches, including the state qualifier, via shootout and the Wolves winning its match in a shootout. Several players on each team are also teammates on a Peninsula elite soccer squad.
The win puts the Riders in second place in the Olympic 2A League at 3-1, a half-game behind Olympic. The Wolves are in fourth place at 2-2.
“I told the girls sometimes you just have to grind out a win,” said Moseley.
Moseley said he thought the defense played well, especially after a sluggish start to the beginning of the season.
“That’s five straight games without allowing their offense to score a goal,” he said. He pointed out that a goal allowed to Olympic last week was actually an own goal. The Riders have outscored their past five opponents 18-1.
Sequim coach Derek Vander Velde was proud of how his team fought back after the tough start.
“That second half they outplayed Port Angeles. I was really proud of them. There’s so many positives to take from this game, that’s what I care about, not the score line,” Vander Velde said.
Vander Velde said the Wolves changed some formations in the second half, and it made a huge difference.
“We were testing the waters a bit early and it didn’t pan out,” he said.
Port Angeles’ Delaney Wenzl, who had the lone goal of the match, said Sequim goaltender Claire Henninger is difficult to beat. Henninger made a number of jaw-dropping diving saves to keep this match close.
“She has insanely good reflexes and really strong hands,” Wenzl said.
“It always feels good to beat Sequim. I’m looking forward to playing them on our field,” said the Riders’ Sierra Robinson.
Early, it looked like Port Angeles was going to blow Sequim out of the water as the Riders dominated the first 20 minutes of the match. The ball was in the Wolves’ end virtually the entire time and Sequim was back on its heels trying to stay in the game. The Riders had a pair of golden opportunities in the first eight minutes as Henninger made two diving saves to keep Port Angeles off the scoreboard.
Finally, in the 11th minute, the Riders’ Kyrsten McGuffey made a perfect cross and Wenzl booted it in to give Port Angeles a 1-0 lead. But, with the amount of pressure the Riders were forcing, the Wolves were lucky Port Angeles didn’t rack up three or four goals.
After the rough first 20 minutes, the Wolves defense clamped down and the momentum started to change with Sequim forcing the action.
The second half was all Wolves except for one exciting flurry by the Riders.
Sequim’s Hope Glasser, who created havoc the whole second half, nearly had a couple of goals in the opening minutes of the half, forcing Riders goalkeeper Bonnie Sires to make a save on one attempt. Glasser made a number of solo runs on long passes in the second half, but she was never able to quite get past Riders defender Shannon Cosgrove, who broke up chance after chance by kicking the ball out of bounds.
In the 67th minute, the Riders nearly put the game away for good. After a corner kick, Henninger was forced to make a diving save on the left side of the goal, then on the rebound a couple of seconds later, she was forced to dive on the right side of the goal on an even more spectacular save on a seemingly wide open shot.
Moments later, in the 72nd minute, on a mad scramble in front of the net, Glasser had a wide open shot for the Wolves, but her shot hit the crossbar.
It was then Sires’ turn to make a big save. On a free kick in the 77th minute from about 30 yards out, the Wolves’ Natalie Torres hit a near-perfect shot. Sires had to jump up to tip the ball up, then she tipped it a second time to keep the ball from going in the net. That was the last golden opportunity for Sequim as the whistle blew shortly into stoppage time.
Above and beyond Glasser and Henninger’s acrobatics, Vander Velde thought Yana Hoesel and Kristina Mingoy had strong games for the Wolves.
The Riders (3-1, 4-3) play at home at 6:45 p.m. today against North Mason. Sequim (2-2, hosts Kingston at 6:45 p.m. today.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
