LAKEWOOD — Both the Port Angeles and Sequim boys soccer teams fell short of qualifying for the state tournament with the Roughriders going down 3-1 against a good Franklin Pierce team and the Wolves giving powerhouse Fife all they could handle, but falling 2-1 in the opening seconds of overtime.
The district tournament loser-out games were played back-to-back at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood. Both Port Angeles and Sequim had deep playoff runs but couldn’t quite qualify for state.
The Riders gave up two quick goals at the beginning of the second half after being down just 1-0 at the halftime break.
“Port Angeles didn’t defend well on set pieces and Franklin Pierce capitalized on their opportunities,” said coach Chris Saari.
The Cardinals (12-3-1) got their first goal on a long throw-in in the 15th minute. The throw went to the near post and was redirected into the net by Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce got an insurance goal right after halftime in the 41st minute when free kick to the far post went to two unmarked Cardinals for an easy tap-in, Saari said. Franklin Pierce got up 3-0 in the 43rd minute when the Cardinals got in behind the Riders defense in the box and knocked the ball past keeper Gus Halberg, who was coming out of the net.
Port Angeles tried to rally back. Kanyon Anderson drew a foul in the box in the 60th minute and Matthew Miller scored the penalty kick for his 22nd goal of the season.
But just a minute late, Taihvan Lyle picked up a red card for a slide tackle from behind and the Riders were forced to play a man down for the final 20 minutes of the match, making a comeback that much more difficult.
”It was a disappointing way to finish a great season for Port Angeles,” Saari said. “The 2025 season was a huge turnaround season for the Riders after finishing in last place in the Olympic League in 2024 at 3-13 overall. The Riders finished 12-8 overall in 2025. Third in the Olympic League and went four games in the postseason district tournament.”
One of those postseason wins was in a 10-round shootout with Olympic.
Saari said senior goalie Halberg was an instrumental part in the Riders much-improved 2025 season. Halberg, who never played high school soccer before, recorded seven shutouts. An all-league performer in basketball, he is moving on next year to play basketball at Peninsula College.
Port Angeles graduates seniors Halberg, Jacob Weaver, Leif Moody, Jackson Wyall and Caleb Lagrange, but has a ton of players coming back, including striker Miller and Anderson, one of the top players on the team.
Fife 2, Sequim 1
LAKEWOOD — Sequim held its own against Fife, a soccer powerhous looking to make its 10th straight trip to the state 2A tournament, but the Wolves were stunned by a game-winning goal in the first 17 seconds of overtime.
The Wolves had a lead for much of the game. After a Sequim player was fouled in the box, Josh Alcaraz converted the opportunity with a penalty kick goal in the 24th minute.
Fife, which came in to the game with a record of 14-3-1, put a lot of pressure on the Wolves all game, but keeper Nolan Valenzuela made a number of great saves to keep Sequim in the game. Colton Wagner also had a big save in the 14th minute when Valenzuela got out of position. Wagner swooped in from his defensive spot and booted the ball out of trouble as it was only a couple yards from the goal-line.
Fife finally broke through in the 50th minute when a rebound on a hard shot got away from Valenzuela and the Trojans pounced on the rebound for a score.
The game remained tied 1-1 for the rest of regulation.
Fife scored shockingly quick in overtime as three forwards got the ball deep quickly with numbers on the retreating Sequim defense. The Trojans were able to set up a player onside on the left wing for a game-winning shot.
It was a successful all-around year for the Wolves, who went 8-10 on the season and won two postseason games, 2-1 over Steilacoom in overtime and 2-0 over Bremerton.
Sequim graduates eight seniors, including Valenzuela. Other seniors include Connor Goff, James Mason, Weston Owens, Kyhlan Henderson, Luke Rocha, Preston Kurtze and Adrian Mendez.
