Back on the pitch for the first time in nearly a year, Sequim High’s girls soccer squad earned a split of games in their first week back.

Following a 2-0 road loss to Klahowya in Silverdale on Feb. 17, the Wolves pounced on Kingston for two early goals and held on for a 2-1 win over the visiting Buccaneers a day later.

Abby Schroeder converted a penalty kick about three minutes in to put Sequim up 1-0.

Schroeder instigated the Wolves’ second goal nine minutes later, driving deep into Kingston territory before loping a long crossing shot that junior Hannah Wagner headed in for a 2-0 advantage.

“It was so great that she got that,” Sequim head coach Derek Vander Velde said of Wagner. Wagner had nearly headed in a goal at districts two seasons ago and had another header blocked against Klahowya a day prior.

“She was so excited when she got that,” Vander Velde said.

The goal would prove to be a game-winner.

Kingston halved Sequim’s lead with a long drive that bounced in with just three minutes to go.

“It was one of those balls hit it up in the air; (they were) just trying to move the ball forward we didn’t close the space enough; it was just an odd goal,” Vander Velde said.

Kingston pressured Sequim’s defense in penalty time but couldn’t get the equalizer.

“The fact we were able to come away with a win … (in) the second game, less that 24 hours from their first game, I could not be happier could not be prouder of them,” Vander Velde said.

Eagles soar in snow

In the season-opener, Klahowya got a pair of goals from a freshman as the Eagles and Wolves battled on a turf field in Silverdale only recently cleared of snow.

“It was cold,” Vander Velde said.

“The girls played well they played awesome of the first time out,” he said. “Most of them were really nervous, but the fact they were nervous told me they were excited, ready to play.”

State tourney qualifiers for the past 11 seasons, Klahowya got their scores within a couple of minutes of each other in the first half. Ninth-grader Alisa Divano snagged a rebounded shot and found the net at the 30th minute, and added a score off a pass from Tori Peters for a 2-0 lead.

The Wolves had their chances, Vander Velde said, with a shot glancing off the cross bar and a pair of headers — one of them Wagner’s — that just missed.

“It wasn’t our night to find the back of the net,” Vander Velde said. “(But) when they came off, they were happy.”

See live and recorded SHS games online at youtube.com/channel/UCb2reeKQvhVlPnQqRIOEacg.

Coming up

Sequim is at Olympic (Silverdale) on Feb. 24 and then hosts cross-peninsula rival Port Angeles on Friday, Feb. 26; game time is 6:45 p.m.

The Wolves are at East Jefferson on March 3 and at Port Angeles on March 6 before a rematch with Klahowya at home on March 9.