ROCHESTER — The Forks boys soccer season came to a sudden end in a 2-1 Class 1A Southwest District 4 tournament defeat in overtime against Rochester on Tuesday.
The two teams played a goalless first half on the windy night.
“The wind was against us in the first half which went against our attack,” coach Ismael Ramos said.
The Spartans (10-9) went up 1-0 after halftime.
“Estevan Ramos sent a ball up from our defensive half over their defense and Mateo Lucas was right on it,” Ramos said. “Their keeper had come out and Mateo just got it by them.”
Forks looked to go up 2-0 late in the second half, but disaster struck.
“Ten minutes later, Mateo has another great shot that hit the right post and bounced back toward us. Rochester was able to get the rebound and counter attack quickly to get the tying goal.”
Rochester (13-6) added the winner a couple of minutes into the first golden goal overtime period.
“Honestly, the whole team played with such intensity and drive, “Ramos said. “They wanted this one. They didn’t leave anything on the field.”
Ramos said this year’s group, the first to return to the postseason in a number of seasons, was special.
“These kids kept me going,” Ramos said. “I’ve worked hard with them for the last four years. I came back this year because of them, so to finish off the season with a return to the playoffs, that was special for all of us.”
North Kitsap 8, Port Angeles 1
POULSBO — Port Angeles was competitive with Olympic League co-champ North Kitsap in their Class 2A West Central District Tournament playoff game for half of the match before the Vikings powered past the Riders.
Head coach Chris Saari said North Kitsap scored two quick goals in the fourth and sixth minutes but Port Angeles came close when Aurelio Wilson-Rojero’s right-footed shot hit the far post near the 25th minute mark and halved the deficit with a 28th-minute strike.
“Grant Butterworth took a long throw in into the penalty box. Jacob Weaver challenged for the ball and it grazed his shoulder and went through to Oliver Martinez,” Saari said. “Oliver hit a first time volley that hit the back of the net in the air near post.”
North Kitsap added a goal before halftime to go up 3-1 and dominated the second half.
“The Vikings opened things up in the second half and PA got all of their reserves in the game in the last 30 minutes,” Saari said.
“Late in the game, Aurelio had a goal-line save to keep the Vikings from adding to the score. Roldan Lara provided energy for PA with his hustle and ball winning.”
The Riders (11-7) will look to rest up for a big loser-out game at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood against Washington (11-6-1) tonight at 5:30 p.m.
Bainbridge 12, Sequim 0
BAINBRIDGE — The Wolves elected to play for today’s loser-out contest at home against Olympic League foe Bremerton (6 p.m. at Peninsula College) and rested their starters in a shutout loss to the co-league champion Spartans.
“Injuries have haunted us through out the regular season, so we needed to rest our starters against Bainbridge knowing the game didn’t change our path,” coach Dave Breckenridge said. “It was great seeing some boys come up from JV and play an entire match against them. Unfortunately the score line doesn’t show the passion those young players had.”
Breckenridge said Sequim (7-9) needs to continue to play like the Wolves deserve to be part of the postseason.
“The boys know when it counts and they find a way to do what they need to when they need to,” he said. “We have taken all season to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Strategic player rotation is key to keeping the balance on the pitch.
“So again if this team comes together like they know they can we will continue our run to state.”
The Wolves and Knights (4-13) split two regular season contests with each team winning 3-1 at home.
