Girls soccer: Wolves top Lindbergh, advance in district tourney

Olympic League final standings

Team Lg. Pts. Over.

Port Angeles 10-2-0 32 13-2-1

North Kitsap 11-1-0 29 27 15-1-1

Sequim 7-5-0 20 9-5-1

North Mason 5-7-0 16 5-10-0

Bremerton 5-7-0 15 7-8-0

Olympic 4-8-0 14 5-11-0

Kingston 0-12-0 0 1-14-1

The Sequim soccer girls are within one victory of qualifying for the 2A state tournament two years in a row after a 4-1 win over Lindbergh on Nov. 2 in their West Central District III 2A Tournament opener.

The Wolves got two goals from Hope Glasser and goals from Abby Schroeder and Rileigh Van Dyken.

“It was a really solid game,” Sequim coach Derek Vander Velde said. “They were out-possessing everybody. They were patient with their buildup.”

Sequim’s deep run in the postseason last year in which the Wolves won the district tournament and went on to the 2A state tournament, helps this year’s team, Vander Velde said.

“For sure. They understand the pressure. They’ve been here before, which is good,” he said.

Beyond the goal scorers, Vander Velde said the entire team played well and it was tough to single out individual players. He said Natalya James did a good job staying calm and possessing the ball and Hannah Wagner had a solid game.

“Abby had an exceptional game. It was a good, strong, team win,” Vander Velde said.

Glasser got one of her goals on a penalty kick. She got her second goal by splitting a pair of Lindbergh defenders and getting off a shot.

Sequim (7-5-0, 10-5-1) had a second-round game scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Orting (8-2-3 SPSL East, 11-3-4 overall) — results were unavailable at press time. A win puts the Wolves in the state tournament; a loss means puts Sequim in the consolation round with a winner-to-state game on Nov. 7 and fifth-sixth place game set for Nov. 9, both at Franklin Pierce High School.

If Sequim and Port Angeles, set to play Steilacoom on Nov. 5, both win, the Roughriders and Wolves will play each other, potentially at Peninsula College on Nov. 9, for a third time this season. That game will be for seeding and pride as both teams would have already qualified for state.

Peninsula College is hosting a playoff doubleheader on Nov. 9, which means if a high school game is added it would be a soccer triple-header at Wally Sigmar Field.

Finishing the season

The Wolves finished up their regular season on Oct. 29 with a 1-0 win on the road over the Kingston Buccaneers. Daisy Ryan scored one last big goal to cap off her season, converting what Vander Velde called a “gorgeous ball through” from Dietzman with a left-footed finish that completely beat Kingston’s goalkeeper.

“It was good to get a win (in Kingston),” Vander Velde said after the game. “We’ve had some really weird things happen there (in the past).”

On what Vander Velde described as “very, very cold” night, the Wolves had to deal with a Buccaneers team celebrating their senior night and the extra energy that comes with it, and had to break down a defense that was often putting eight or nine players behind the ball to frustrate Sequim’s attacking efforts.

Vander Velde called the game a “good test to say we’re doing everything we’re doing (ahead of the district playoffs). We just need to be more patient, which we’ve said all year.”