With plenty of grins and jokes to go around, they huddled for a team photo and a group hug with a setting sun as a background.

And yet there is plenty of soccer to be played.

Sequim’s boys soccer squad took a big step toward the 2A state tournament with a 6-0 rout of Orting in the West Central District tourney opener on May 5, getting scores from four players and avoiding a season-ending defeat.

“Our attack was definitely on tonight,” sophomore Ryan Tolberd said.

See photos from the game here.

Tolberd paced the offense with a hat trick; his three scores now gives the sophomore the school’s all-time record for goals in a season with 20, breaking Casey Nagler’s mark of 18 set in 2005.

Sequim was slated to to play Highline (13-2-1) on May 8 at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma — results were not available at press time. The winner plays for the top district’s seed on May 12 and gets an automatic state tourney berth, while the losing squad needs wins on May 10 and May 12 to advance to state.

“It was nice to break the ice in the playoffs,” Sequim head coach Dave Brasher said, following his team’s win on their “home” field at North Kitsap High in Poulsbo.

“It took us a while.”

Sequim (11-4-2) gained the lion’s share of possession from the opening whistle but couldn’t seem to break through for the first 15 minutes, catching a bit of bad luck when Tolberd’s shot across the Cardinal goal hit the left post and bounced away.

Sequim finally found the scoreboard after a flurry of shots on goal rebounded to exchange student Hayuk Minano, who deftly flicked a shot past Orting keeper Jarek Mintz for a 1-0 lead at the 15-minute mark.

The Wolves nearly made it 2-0 just five minutes later off a set piece from Mike McAleer to Liam Harris, but his shot skied high and wide.

Sequim got some separation with about 13 minutes left in the first half when Tolberd scored in a header.

Harris and McAleer had a pair of near-misses just before half, but the Wolves had to settle for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Brasher said it was key for his team to not let up in the second half and give Orting any hope of a comeback.

“We worked hard for that third one,” he said.

Sequim had a flurry of chances for the third goal — including shots by Tolberd, Adrian Funston and Mathew Craig — before Tolberd’s record-clinching score at 54minutes. Minano ripped a shot that glanced off the Orting crossbar and Tolberd was in the prime spot to head it in.

Two minutes later, Harris — who set Sequim’s all-time career scoring record earlier this season — snapped up a deflection and netted it home for a 4-0 Sequim lead.

Tolberd earned his hat trick soon after, at 58 minutes, getting deep into Cardinal territory and ricocheting a ball off a Cardinal defender for a 5-0 lead.

Sequim added more pressure on the Orting defense late, with Eli Gish, Ian Parker, Addie Berg and Byron Rice each putting shots on goal before McAleer added the exclamation point at 77 minutes, taking a feed from Berg and muscling a shot through the Orting keepers’ hands.

Liam Stevenson earned the win in goal, stopping a handful of shots late to preserve a shutout.

Brasher had high praise for Stevenson,midfielder Sean Weber and forward Adrian Funston, as well as Harris for settling into a distributing role from his forward position.

Sequim hasn’t won a district game since 2010 — also the last time they made a state tourney appearance.

The Wolves have won seven of their last nine games (plus one tie) after opening league play at 2-2.

Tolberd said Sequim is playing better together because of team bonding, be it on or off the field.

“As my friend Mike McAleer would say, ‘Trust the process, trust the team.’”

Wolves win regular-season finale

Sequim’s Wolves locked up second place in the Olympic League 2A division with a win over the Bremerton Knights on May 1.

Though Sequim lost out on a chance at the league championship when they fell to Kingston 3-2 on April 27, they have a strong seed headed into Saturday night’s West Central District playoff game.

They’ll head into the game with a pair of record-setting (or tying) players: senior Liam Harris set the school mark with his 41st career goal on April 24 against Port Angeles, and sophomore Ryan Tolberd tied the school mark for regular-season scores with 17, set by Casey Nagler in 2005. Tolberd can match or pass Nagler’s full season mark of 18 (also set in 2005) with a score or scores against Orting.

The Wolves could have finished as low as fourth in league play but made sure they’d get the No. 2 seed with a 5-1 win over Bremerton on Senior Night last Tuesday (SHS owned a tiebreaker against North Kitsap, who also finished 8-3 in league).

“We came within a couple of inches of winning the league,” Sequim coach Dave Brasher said. “We’re playing really well, everyone is contributing. We led the league in goals (52 in 12 league games) and we’re getting goals from all over the place,” he said.

“It will be fun to see how far we can go,” Brasher said.

Against Bremerton, Tolberd scored a pair of goals while Eli Gish, Hayuk Minano and Addison Berg all had scores. Harris had two assists while Evan James had an assist. Liam Stevenson, normally a goalkeeper, also tallied an assist playing offense.

Sequim’s Nick Janikic nearly had a shutout in goal, but Bremerton managed its only goal in the final minute on a penalty kick.

Sequim forward Adrian Funston, foreground, looks for teammate Hayuk Minano (7) in the first half of Sequim’s 6-0 rout of Orting on May 5. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

Sequim’s Liam Harris (8) looks for possession of a corner kick in the first of half of Sequim’s 6-0 district tourney win over Orting on Saturday. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell