By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — Sequim played second-place North Kitsap tough and got another great performance from goalkeeper Claire Henninger, who had nine saves, but weren’t able to muster a goal in a 1-0 girls soccer loss to the Vikings.
“[We] fought hard all 80 minutes in one of the best games [we] have played during the season,” said coach Derek Vander Velde. “[We] have struggled a bit in the latter half of the season, but really turned things around last night. It was great to see them find their rhythm again.”
Sequim finished the game with five shots on offense.
Vandervelde said players who stood out were Henninger, Daisy Ryan, Adare McMinn, Natalie Torres, Yana Hoesel and Natayla James.
The loss puts Sequim’s backs against the wall for the postseason. The Wolves are 4-5 in the Olympic League 2A Division, but sit in fifth place with 12 points. North Mason, also 4-5, has 13 points because the Bulldogs received a point after they lost one of their matches in a shootout.
Sequim (4-5, 7-6) has a tough match left tonight against high-scoring rivals Port Angeles, third in the Olympic League standings (the Roughriders beat the Wolves 1-0 earlier this season, but the Wolves dominated the second half of that match).
However, the Wolves finish the regular season with matches against Bremerton and Kingston, a couple of cellar-dwelling teams. The Wolves will have to win at least two out of their three last matches to make fourth place and a postseason berth.
Meanwhile, North Mason has matches left against North Kitsap and Port Angeles, two the three teams at the top of the standings.
“One thing about this team is that they dig deep, have a fighting spirit and they don’t give up,” Vandervelde said.
The loss came in Sequim’s fifth league contest decided by a 1-0 margin. Sequim is 3-2 in those games.
Henninger and the Wolves defense have given up just 10 goals in nine league matches and just 15 goals in 13 matches.
Olympic 4, Port Angeles 1
BREMERTON — Playing against league leader Olympic, the Port Angeles girls, usually a fast-starting team, gave up three first-half goals and couldn’t recover in a 4-1 loss.
Coach Scott Moseley thought the Roughriders “played uncharacteristically timid and scared” against the 8-2 Trojans that beat Port Angeles by a single goal earlier this season.
The Riders scored their goal in the second half on an Emilia Long assist to Kyrsten McGuffey.
“Millie worked hard to win the ball was able to get it to Kyrsten who finished … one on one,” Moseley said.
A win would have vaulted the Riders (6-3, 8-5) into second place in the Olympic League 2A Division, but they remain solidly in third place with a two-game lead over Sequim and North Mason.
Despite this loss, the Riders are by a large margin the highest-scoring team in the Olympic League 2A Division, having scored 32 goals in nine games and 49 goals in 13 overall games.
The Riders host Sequim at 6:45 p.m. today at Civic Field and will celebrate senior night in the girls last home match of the year.
Volleyball Olympic 3, Port Angeles 2
BREMERTON — The Roughriders played one of their best matches of the year, taking a 2-0 lead against Olympic and forcing the Trojans to five sets before finally falling in a heartbreakingly close one 3-2 (22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17, 15-13).
Port Angeles made the Trojans work for the win in what turned into a 204-point, 2-hour, 24-minute match.
Coach Christine Grunch Halberg said the team gave up too many unforced errors beginning in Game 3 after its fast start.
“They never gave up even in game 3 after being down 2-6 at the start. We lost being aggressive at the net hitting the ball wide by just a little bit. It’s where the hole was and at least we went down playing to win,” she said.
Aeverie Politika led the team with nine kills, while Madison Cooke had a good all-around match with eight kills, five aces and three blocks.
Setter Natalie Steinman had 25 assists and 13 digs and Brennan Gray led the team with 24 digs and four aces. Hailee Hugdahl also had four aces.
Port Angeles (0-11, 0-13) hosts rival Sequim at 6:15 p.m. today.
North Kitsap 3, Sequim 0
SEQUIM — The Wolves (5-5, 7-5) lost to the league-leading Vikings (10-0, 11-1) but are still in line in fourth place for the Olympic League’s final seed to the four-team league tournament. All four of those teams will advance to the West Central District Tournament.
Sequim visits rival Port Angeles tonight.
Hoquiam 3, Forks 0
HOQUIAM — After being swept by the Grizzlies, the Spartans must win their final two matches of the season — and hope for some help — in order to make the district playoffs.
Forks (2-4, 7-5) must win matches against Montesano (4-2, 7-5) and Elma (5-0, 10-1) next week and have Hoquiam knock off Montesano to tie the Bulldogs for the third and final seed to the Southwest Washington District 4 playoffs.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim’s Natalya James, right, slips the ball past North Kitsap’s Isla Lester during first-half play on Tuesday night in Sequim. Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
Sequim’s Mary McAleer, right, controls the ball as North Kitsap’s Alaina Marcotte defends on Tuesday night at Sequim High School. Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
