Girls soccer: Wolves drop heartbreaker in first state playoff game

Sequim High’s girls soccer squad saw their postseason run end by the slimmest of margins last week in their first-ever state playoff game.

Ellensburg’s Bulldogs edged the Wolves 4-3 in penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods on Nov. 7, closing a season that saw Sequim go from 0-6 to playoff contender to district champions.

“They’ve done something phenomenal,” Sequim coach Derek Vander Velde said following his team’s heartbreaking loss at Silverdale Stadium.

“There are a lot of positives; they’ll look back on this, hopefully in a couple of days, and see what they’ve done,” he said.

With both teams coming in red-hot — Sequim had won seven games in a row and nine of 10 while the Bulldogs (14-4-0) were 10-1 in their past 11 contests — something had to give, and for much of the first half it looked as if Sequim would break through.

Using a slew of substitutes, the Wolves pushed the pace for the game’s entirety — something they hadn’t done for a full 80 minutes all season, Vander Velde said.

Sequim (10-9-1) got its first solid chance on a free kick when freshman forward Hannah Wagner was fouled just outside the penalty box at the 15-minute mark. Eden Johnson and Hope Glasser both had shots on goal that Bulldog defenders deflected.

Jessica Dietzman had a trio of shots on goal with 10 minutes left in the half but Ellensburg defenders deftly kept the Sequim junior from squaring up a shot, while Glasser and Natalya James had shots in goal late in the first half that Ellensburg keeper Cynthia Johnson secured with relative ease.

Sequim out-shot Ellensburg 8-1 in the first half, but the Bulldogs’ lone shot nearly produced a score; Ellensburg’s Melissa Lopez broke free and laced a grounder that Sequim goalkeeper Olivia Hare trapped for her lone first half save.

“Liv is such a great keeper,” Vander Velde said.

The second half featured more balanced play, with Ellensburg getting their first corner kick at the 44-minute mark and producing a number of deep drives into Sequim territory keyed by Lopez and Caitlyn Cheney. Lopez put a shot over the crossbar at 50 minutes while Cheney had breakaway chances at 54 and 64 minutes that both went wide.

Sequim had a number of good looks at the Bulldog net as well, however; Abby Schroeder put a hard shot on goal at 47 minutes but right on the keeper; a Wolves possession a minute later near the Bulldog goal was knocked around before shot was taken, and Wagner had a pair of chances midway through the second half.

The Wolves’ best chance at breaking the deadlock was at 53 minutes, when Glasser took a possession deep down the left side and looped a pass across the Bulldog goal to Wagner, whose header sailed wide right.

In the first five-minute overtime, Hare had a game-saving stop in the final two minutes, and neither team could get a strong push in the second five-minute period to stave off a penalty kick decision.

In the penalty kick session, Sequim’s Yana Hoesel and Hope Glasser connected on the Wolves’ first two tries and Hare had a save to put Sequim up 2-1. The Wolves missed three of their next four tries, however, with Johnson making a pair of saves. With the tally knotted at 3-3, Ellensburg’s Jami Nelson slipped a shot past Hare into the left corner for the game-clinching score.

“PKs is not how a game should end,” Vander Velde said. “It doesn’t show who the better team was.”

Vander Velde and other Sequim coaches had positive words for an emotional Wolves team following the decision, reminding them of their modest start to their playoff run.

“Did you ever think you’d be in this position?” Vander Velde asked. “You did what nobody thought was possible.”

Sequim looks to bring back nearly its entire roster in 2019, potentially losing just three players — Hoesel, Shayli Schuman and Claire Payne — to graduation.

“The team is going to be good,” Vander Velde said. “They’ve done something phenomenal.”

State tourney happenings

Ellensburg advanced to the state 2A quarterfinals before getting bounced from the tourney by Sehome 3-1 on Nov. 10.

North Kitsap, whom Sequim beat in the West Central District finals, advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over Mark Morris but also saw their state playoff run end in a 2-0 loss to Liberty.

Columbia River ousted Olympic’s Trojans, the other Olympic League squad in the state tourney, with a 1-0 decision on Wednesday.

The state 2A semifinals (Liberty vs. Burlington-Edison, Columbia River vs. Sehome) are Nov. 16 and finals are set for Nov. 17, both in Shoreline.