By Michael Carman and Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
FORKS — A youthful Forks boys soccer team fell 5-1 to Klahowya in the opening round of the Class 1A state tournament on Tuesday night at Spartan Stadium.
Two out of the three Peninsula schools in the state soccer tournaments were eliminated Tuesday as the Port Angeles Roughriders also lost to Sehome 3-1 in Bellingham.
The Eagles — a state-tournament tested program — boast 10 seniors but it was a hat trick by junior midfielder William Stewart and a goal and an assist by sophomore Oscar Peterson that did in the Spartans.
“Move the ball around, they had better possession and control,” Forks coach Joe Morton said when asked what Klahowya did to earn the win.
“They were a well-coached team and very organized.”
The defeat ended the season for the Evergreen League champion Spartans (13-6-0).
“We’ve never been that far in what, 10 years?” Morton asked. “That was a big run for us and we were super happy to be there. We will be back for more next year. I think this is just the start of good things for us. We won’t go backwards.”
Forks trailed 2-0 at halftime but cut the Klahowya lead in half with a 56th minute goal by Tony Hernandez-Flores.
“He scored on a blended scrum in front of the goal in the box,” Morton said. “He was in the right place at the right time.”
The goal provided a brief momentum boost but the Eagles scored within four minutes and added insurancd goals in the 66th and 71st minute.
Morton said it was a special season.
“I’m really proud of their resiliency,” he said. “We’d lose a game then win three or four in a row. The boys’ growth as well. The way we played out of the back. It didn’t look as good as it did later in the season but we were also facing stiffer competition.”
With only two seniors departing in forward Seth Johnson and defender Eden Cisneros, Forks will return a deep and talented team.
“Gabe [Terrones] in goal, Tony, Oscar [Gonzalez] and Hugo Sandoval will all return and my defense is all sophomore starters, so that’s huge growth potential,” Morton said.
“We will be back.”
Sehome 3, Port Angeles 1
BELLINGHAM — Sehome got two goals nine minutes apart in the second half to put the Port Angeles boys soccer team in a hole in the final minutes that couldn’t be climbed out of.
The Roughriders lost to the Mariners 3-1 Tuesday in their opening match of the state 2A tournament, ending their season.
The Port Angeles boys’ soccer team’s season came to a close with a 3-1 loss to Sehome in the state 2A tournament opener.
Riders coach Chris Saari called the Mariners a “highly skilled possession team” that was able to control possession for the majority of the game.
“Port Angeles was trying to absorb pressure and to bend but not break defensively, but sustained pressure by Sehome led to a few defensive lapses by the Riders,” Saari said.
Sehome came in to Tuesday’s match as the champion of the Northwest Conference and winners of the District 2 Tournament and has an overall record of 16-1-3.
Sehome got off to a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute when the Riders scored an own goal against themselves after a long throw in went off a Port Angeles player and into their own goal.
The Riders bounced back in the second half in the 54th minute as Gabe Long scored on a header to the far post on a long throw-in from Stuart Methner, who picked up an assist.
The game didn’t stay knotted for long, however, as the Mariners’ Morgan Antico scored just five minutes later on a header off a corner kick. In the 68th minute, Sehome scored an insurance goal, again on a shot by Antico.
Sehome finished with 18 shots to Port Angeles’ 8. The Mariners had nine corner kicks to the Riders’ five.
Saari named Stuart Methner his offensive player of the match, Hollund Bailey his defensive player of the match and Long his transition player of the match.
The Riders had a successful year, finishing second in the Olympic League 2A Division and winning three out of four matches at the West Central District III 2A Tournament to qualify for state. Port Angeles ends the season with an outstanding overall record of 14-5-0. Two of those five losses were to undefeated league champion Sequim, which played its state 2A tournament opener Tuesday against Woodland (Look online at www.peninsuladailynews.com this evening for results of that match.).
Next year will be a big rebuilding year for the Riders as they graduate 10 seniors — Kyler Tourbin, Aron Trubow, Andrew St. George, Cameron Butler, Bailey, Om Kataria, Long, Andrew Methner, Colby Rentas and Austin Fischer. They do return five starters including goalkeeper Anton Kathol, and midfielders Luis Galvan and Stuart Methner.
“I’m proud of our team and the character they showed throughout the season and in the District and State Tournaments. Our seniors will be greatly missed,” Saari said.
Spartan Hugo Sandoval, 7, controls the ball against Klahowya’s Logan Brunson, 5, on Tuesday in Forks during a State 1A soccer tournament game. Klahowya won 5-1. (Lonnie Archibald/Peninsula Daily News)
