Port Angeles showed off its offensive quality and held Sequim off the scoreboard in a 3-0 Rainshadow Rumble girls soccer victory on Sept. 8, the Wolves’ Olympic League opener.
“We gave a lot of heart; it just didn’t happen today,” Sequim coach Derek Vander Velde said.
“They (Port Angeles) have got a couple of fast players; they hit those channels really quickly,” he said.
Port Angeles opened the scoring in the 11th minute when freshman forward Baillee Larson played the ball to sophomore Millie Long along the left side of the end line. Long was able to send a curling strike to the upper corner of the goal from a difficult left-to-right angle.
The Riders added to their lead just before halftime in the 40th minute. Freshman Catie Brown drew a foul about 35 yards from the Sequim goal and junior Delaney Wenzl stepped up to take the free kick.
Wenzl had powered an earlier free kick through the goal box but took a little heat off the fastball this time around, lofting the ball in toward goal where classmate Brooklyn Alton was there to knock in the second goal and put Port Angeles up 2-0.
Port Angeles senior Kyrsten McGuffey added an insurance goal in the 69th minute when she was able to head the ball over a diving Sequim goalkeeper Olivia Hare.
Hare had a couple of point-blank saves for Sequim (0-1-0 in league, 0-2-1 overall).
“Our keeper did a great job,” Vander Velde said.
“I thought Hope Glasser did a great job, Natalya James settled down and was defending tightly,” he added. “A lot of teams will shut down if the opponent scores a couple of goals and the girls didn’t do that, they never quit.”
Earlier in the week, Sequim dropped a 2-0 decision at Klahowya, a traditionally strong 1A squad, on Sept. 4.
“It was a good game,” Vandervelde said. “Klahowya has a really solid program and the girls did well, so I’m proud of them.”
The Sequim coach had high praise for Olivia Hare in goal.
“Olivia … was pretty phenomenal,” Vandervelde said. “She was blocking some shots that maybe shouldn’t have been blocked.”
Looking ahead
Sequim was slated to take on Bremerton on the road on Sept. 11 — results were not available at press time.
The Wolves host Olympic on Sept. 13. They are at North Kitsap on Sept. 18 and Chimacum on Sept. 20.
Sequim Gazette editor Michael Dashiell contributed to this report.
