PORT ANGELES — Hanging on by their fingernails for the final 40 minutes of the match, the Roughriders girls soccer team walked away with a hard-fought, heart-thumping 3-2 win over North Mason, punching a ticket to the postseason in the process.
Port Angeles completely dominated the first half at Civic Field Tuesday night and took a 3-0 lead into halftime, thanks to two goals from Emily Boyd.
But, in a reversal of fortunes, the Bulldogs in turn dominated the second half, keeping the ball in the Riders’ end all half and peppering the goal with shot after shot. Only a series of spectacular diving saves by Port Angeles’ goaltender Madelyn Wenzl kept her squad from getting buried in that second half.
“It was all hands on deck,” said coach Scott Moseley.
“We don’t quite know what happened [in the second half]. The coaches will have to figure out why there was such a change,” Moseley said.
Boyd said her team stayed together during the Bulldogs’ comeback bid.
“That was really intense, but we kept composed,” said Boyd.
“That was a good game, it was really fun to play in,” she said.
In the end, the Riders could be happy about the win and the playoff berth, but they were still breathing a sigh of relief after the match.
“It feels really good to make the playoffs. We’ve worked really hard to get there,” Boyd said.
Wenzl agreed.
“It was nice we got that win,” Wenzl said.
In addition to her second-half heroics, Wenzl added another diving save on a penalty shot in the first half. She said the North Mason player telegraphed her shot a bit.
“I noticed the angle of her body” on the penalty shot, Wenzl said. “I saw her looking to the right.” So, she was able to anticipate the shot would go to her right and Wenzl made a perfect save.
The victory puts the Riders at 6-5 in the Olympic League 2A Division, tied for third with Sequim. They will finish the season either as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. They will begin postseason play on Saturday at Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. against the South Puget Sound League No. 4 or No. 6 seed.
The Riders have their final regular season game at home tonight against second-place North Kitsap.
Meanwhile, Sequim, which also qualified for the postseason with a 1-0 win over Kingston, will play last-place Bremerton tonight. The Wolves also will be either a No. 3 or No. 4 seed, depending on how their and the Riders’ final games end up.
Boyd scored her first goal in the second minute on an assist from Krysten McGuffey. It was McGuffey’s sixth assist of the year.
Minutes later, Leah Haworth made a good pass to Sierra Robinson who was wide open in front of the goal. She made a solid shot to the corner of the net, but it barely missed being a goal by a couple of feet.
The Riders’ pressure paid off shortly afterward, when Nicole Heaton kept a ball in play on the end line and passed the ball to a wide open and uncovered Haworth who let loose a shot from 20 yards out that found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute. It was Haworth’s first goal of the year.
A foul was called on the Riders in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Wenzl anticipated the shot was going to her right, dove and made a great save on the shot to keep it 2-0.
Right at the end of the half, Boyd scored her second goal — her 10th of the season and her fourth multi-goal game of the year — to make it 3-0, seemingly putting the Riders firmly in control. Heaton picked up her second assist of the match.
They were anything but in control in the wild and tense second half, however.
It was evident early that the Bulldogs came out of the half fired up and with more aggressive tactics, as they kept the ball in the Port Angeles end most of the half.
The relentless onslaught of pressure began with a dangerous high-bouncing shot by the Bulldogs. Wenzl was able to jump up and keep the ball out of the goal. However, she was forced to make another stop as the ball came loose right in front of the goal, then in a mad scramble, North Mason was finally able to score five minutes into the second half.
The Bulldogs scored again just a few minutes later to make it 3-2, but they weren’t done. North Mason kept up their attacks for the entire half as the Port Angeles girls were completely back on their heels.
Wenzl made another save on a ball bouncing over her head, then made not one, not two but three diving stops on point-blank shots. On one save, she was forced to dive on the ball as a Bulldogs forward was lurking right around the ball.
The Bulldogs continued to control the action until the final whistle, but that was the end of their serious scoring chances.
________
Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
