POULSBO — It was bad news, good news for the Port Angeles soccer girls.
If the Roughriders had beat North Kitsap in regulation Tuesday night, they would’ve locked up an Olympic League 2A championship. If the Vikings had won in regulation, they would have picked up three points, forcing a tie for first place.
Instead, the game went to penalty kicks, which North Kitsap won for a 1-0 victory.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that in the Olympic League 2A Division’s complex standings system, forcing a game into penalty kicks means that the Roughriders pick up a point. The Vikings got two points for winning in penalty kicks.
That leaves the Riders with 26 league points and the Vikings with 24, meaning that Port Angeles is still alone in first place. It also means they will likely have to win out in their final two games to win the league championship because it appears North Kitsap isn’t going away.
Coach Scott Moseley said North Kitsap dominated the first 10 minutes of the match.
“I’m not really sure where our start came from —such a big game and you need to step onto the field ready to go. However, we quickly recovered our confidence and the game evened out,” Moseley said.
Moseley also said the game was physical.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Rider team dish out such hard tackles. We matched them throughout the game, ” he said.
Moseley was happy with the Riders’ team defense, which held the Vikings to zero goals in 90 minutes of play.
Moseley said the Vikings had one serious chance when a shot from eight yards out hit a post.
The Riders’ best chance came with 90 seconds left in overtime. Bailee Larson won the ball at midfield, fought through two North Kitsap players and passed to the league’s leading scorer, Millie Long. Long’s first touch took her inside her defender and one-on-one with the Vikings’ goalkeeper, but her hard shot just went wide and the game went to penalty kicks.
Delaney Wenzl and Anna Petty made penalty kicks for the Riders, but the Vikings converted four out of five shots to win and earn the two points.
Moseley named Lucah Folden and Teagan Clark the defensive players of the match, Wenzl and Jada Cargo as the transition players of the match and Eve Burke as the offensive player of the match.
North Kitsap has a pair of games left against Olympic (3-6 — 11 points) and North Mason (5-4 — 14 points) and the Riders can’t expect the Vikings to lose either game.
Port Angeles (8-2 — 26 points, 11-2-1 overall) next travels to Bremerton (4-6 — 13 points) today and finishes up its season at home against Olympic on Tuesday with a possible league championship on the line.
Port Townsend’s Emma Kane, left, and Sequim’s Amara Sayer, each get a foot on the ball while trying for control during a Tuesday night game at Memorial Field in Port Townsend. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Sequim 5, Port Townsend 0
PORT TOWNSEND — Sequim scored four goals in the second half to pull away from Port Townsend in a nonleague match.
The Redhawks played the Wolves tough in the first half as Sequim was up just 1-0 at the break.
“Overall, I thought they put in a pretty good performance,” said Port Townsend coach Robert Cantley. “We had them under some sustained pressure. They did everything I could’ve asked them to do.”
In the second half, Sequim, fighting for a playoff spot at the 2A level, came out fired up and scored a couple of goals. AT that point, the Redhawks pressed, sending more players into the offensive zone and the Wolves were able to pick up another couple of goals.
“We gave a good accounting of ourselves,” Cantley said.
Cantley said that Sorina Johnston, filling in at goalkeeper, played a good match, as did Macy Smith in the midfield.
The Redhawks finish up their regular season with a match at home at 2 p.m. Saturday against Forks. Then, they begin postseason with a West Central District 1A tournament play-in game Nov. 2.
Sequim (5-5 — 14 points, 7-5-1) returns to league play with a very important game at home at 6:45 p.m. against North Mason (5-5 — 15 points, 5-6-0). The Wolves need to pick up at least a point in this game to get back into playoff position. With a win in regulation, they could leapfrog two teams and into third place.
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This story was compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
