By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
SEQUIM — An energized Sequim soccer team put three goals in net in the first 18 minutes, including two scores from Josiah Urquiah, as the Wolves bounced Port Angeles 5-2 in a Rainshadow Rumble rivalry match.
The win clinched a playoff berth for Sequim and moved the Wolves to 6-4-0 (7-5-2 overall) in league.
“We played well tonight,” coach Dave Brasher said.
“The kids did a good job of forgetting about North Kitsap and getting better. It’s Port Angeles, so they were up for it.
“Jo played his best game, but there were some other kids who played really well. Chris Morgan in the back, Patrick McCrorie down the right side. He was solid.”
But Urquiah was the player of the match, and active from the start, rushing on to a through ball in the fourth minute and booting a well-struck shot off the hands of Roughriders goalkeeper Lorenzo Delatorre.
Urquiah’s attempt on the rebound was kick saved away from danger by Port Angeles defender Hollund Bailey.
The effort foreshadowed more heady play from Urquiah.
Patrick McCrorie sent a short pass to a slanting Urquiah minutes later and Urquiah softly slotted a shot past Delatorre for a 1-0 Sequim lead in the 12th minute.
Urquiah made it 2-0 for the Wolves five minutes later after the Riders turned the ball over just past midfield and Addison Berg collected the ball and passed up the sideline to a racing Urquiah.
The Sequim senior made a hard charge up the left side of the field, keeping possession for more than 50 yards and avoiding a tackle by Bailey to score his second goal to the right of a diving Delatorre.
“Josiah was a gamechanger,” Brasher said.
“Hollund in the back is a super-fast center back and Jo just pushed past him.”
Robert Beeson added to the Wolves’ lead a minute later, pushing through a mass of players in the middle to fire off a shot from the top of the 18-yard goal box for a 3-0 Sequim lead.
“Robert played well,” Brasher said.
“He’s a hot or cold player, and he did well tonight with that shot. He tackles hard, too. And he got the yellow [card] for mowing that guy over.”
After Beeson’s goal, Urquiah snatched the ball out of the net and ran it back to midfield, emphatically placing the ball in the center spot.
“3-0 lead, but we weren’t done,” Urquiah said.
“I ran it up there because I wanted us to try and get another one [goal] off quick.”
That aggressive mentality showcased Sequim’s approach to playing Port Angeles for the second time.
The Wolves lost 3-0 against the Riders earlier this season.
“That was something we talked about after the first game,” Brasher said.
“They physically beat us. And we weren’t going to let that happen again, we weren’t going to be outworked. They [his players] did what they said we were going to do. We played the whole 80 minutes, well, we played a good 70 minutes, they had a good 10-minute run.”
Urquiah earned a free kick from the right side of the penalty box in the 62nd minute and after a scramble in the goal box, Sequim freshman Michael McAleer pounced on the rebound to put the Wolves up 4-0.
Port Angeles broke the shutout in the 66th minute when Kenny Soule sent in a left-footed cross in front of the goal that was headed in cleanly by Grayson Peet.
The Riders added a second goal three minutes later when Ben Schneider put a good left-footed boot on the ball from long range past Sequim goalkeeper Navy Thomas-Brenske.
Thomas-Brenske later cleaned up a scramble for the ball that could have made it a one-goal game late.
“[We] played some good soccer in the second half and mounted a comeback but it was too little too late in the end,” Port Angeles coach Chris Saari said.
The Wolves notched their last goal just before the final whistle on a shot by Konnor Parrish.
“I liked how even though they did come back and get two goals we kept our heads up high and played together as a team the last couple of minutes,” Urquiah said.
Sequim wraps up the regular season this week with a senior night home game against Kingston on Monday and an away game at Bremerton on Wednesday.
The fourth-place Riders (5-5-0, 8-6-0) must beat North Mason at home Monday to keep their playoff hopes alive. Port Angeles also hosts league-champion North Kitsap on Wednesday.
