PREP SOCCER ROUNDUP: Roughriders nearly pull off miracle upset over No. 1 Bainbridge

Published 4:45 pm Wednesday, April 22, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys soccer team went up against the No. 1-ranked 2A soccer team in the state and can walk away knowing they gave Bainbridge everything it could handle.

The Spartans came away with a 2-1 victory, but had to be breathing a huge sigh of relief in this game that nearly saw the Roughriders come back late from a 2-0 deficit to steal at least a tie. They say there are no moral victories, but the Riders had to be feeling good about themselves to take Bainbridge to the limit the way they did.

“Last year, they beat us 10-0 and 4-0. They beat us 4-0 earlier this year. They’re ranked No. 1 in the state and we played them to a 2-1 score,” said Port Angeles coach Chris Saari.

Bainbridge came in to Tuesday’s match having outscored its Olympic League opponents 52-3 in its previous nine games.

Despite the loss, Port Angeles, which is ranked No. 7 in the state, remained in second place in the Olympic League at 7-2-0 (9-2-0 overall). Olympic beat North Kitsap 1-0 to drop the Vikings behind the Roughriders in the standings.

Bainbridge is a big, skilled team with a number of players over 6 feet tall, and the Spartans (10-0-0), who finished fourth at state last year, showed why they are No. 1 this year by dominating possession of the ball through most of the first half.

Port Angeles goalkeeper Maverick Williams had a brilliant game as Bainbridge kept him busy all match. He made at least a dozen saves with a couple of them of the spectacular variety. His first great save came in the 10th minute when he dove to get a hand to deflect a Spartans’ shot, which then went off the far post and stayed out.

The Spartans kept putting on pressure early with some dangerous crossing passes from Will Treverton right across the goal mouth. Bainbridge’s pressure finally paid off in the 22nd minute as the Spartans scored on a header off a corner kick.

In the 27th minute, the Spartans appeared to score a second goal on a banana kick off a corner, but the referee ruled Bainbridge was offsides and waived off the goal.

The Spartans got the goal back just three minutes later when Treverton hit a left-footed rocket to the far post to make the score 2-0.

From that point on, the Riders’ defense and Williams clamped down on the Bainbridge offense, even though the Riders’ top defender Grant Butterworth went out with an ankle injury. He was able to come back late in the game but was noticeably limping.

“He really wanted to go back in,” Saari said. “That was a bummer. We have to stay healthy.”

In the second half, the Riders did a better job keeping the ball at Bainbridge’s end of the field and they started creating chances for themselves.

Matthew Miller was surrounded all night by as many as three Bainbridge defenders and was never allowed to get loose in the offensive end. He still nearly created a goal by getting loose on the right side and making a great, hard cross to Jay Lieberman in the 57th minute. Lieberman slid perfectly into the pass, but his shot went just wide.

The Riders finally broke through in the 77th minute on a spectacular set piece. Taihvan Lyle took a free kick from 40 yards out and Oliver Martinez timed his run perfectly to head the shot into the net. Bainbridge thought it was offsides, but the score stood up.

Suddenly, the undefeated Spartans had a tight game on their hands and both teams played some furious soccer in stoppage time. Martinez had another dangerous shot in stoppage time that went just wide. Williams also made his best save of the night as again it was Treverton who worked himself open for a close, hard shot. Williams managed to get a toe on the shot to keep it out.

Saari named Martinez and Sawyer Davis his transition players of the match and Lyle and Williams his defensive players of the match.

Port Angeles next plays at Olympic (3-6-0, 4-7-0) on Friday.

North Mason 3, Sequim 1

SEQUIM — The Sequim soccer team had its three-game Olympic League winning streak snapped 3-1 by North Mason.

“It was a tough loss for us last night in a very competitive game,” said coach Ian McCallum.

McCallum said the first half was even with neither team able to create any serious goal-scoring opportunities.

The Wolves jumped on the Bulldogs early in the second half when Josh Alcaraz scored from the top of the box to give Sequim a 1-0 lead. McCallum called it an outstanding goal from Alcaraz.

North Mason was able to equalize the score with a quick attack and shot from the edge of the box. With about eight minutes remaining, the Bulldogs scored again to take the lead. As Sequim pushed forward, looking for its own equalizer, the Bulldogs scored on a deflected shot to get an insurance goal.

The Wolves were without top goal scorer Colten Anderson and starting defender Jayden Halladay.

“For myself, a disappointing outcome in a game that we deserved more. Ultimately, we didn’t take advantage of the possession and needed to test the Bulldogs’ keeper more,” McCallum said.

Sequim remains in the upper half of the standings at 5-5-0 in league. The Wolves have a huge challenge Friday with a game at Bainbridge (10-0-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the state.