PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles discovered senior captain Ava-Anne Shehan can also serve as a potent offensive force as the four-year varsity player produced a natural hat trick over 11 minutes of the second half and the Roughriders rolled past Bremerton 7-0.
Shehan, a stalwart starter at center back for the Roughriders, moved into the midfield for much of the second half of Tuesday’s Olympic League girls soccer victory at Wally Sigmar Field.
“We’ve been toying with the lineup, not because we want a bunch of different looks, but we’ve had some injuries and those girls are coming back and some other players that we’ve moved around have had success at those positions,” coach Daniel Horton said.
“So we bumped up Ava-Anne Shehan and gave her some minutes in the midfield and had Becca Manson, who has played defense before, play defender.”
Shehan notched goals in the 60th and 68th minutes, using her defensive skills to force steals.
“She read the Bremerton offense and made quick steals that led to breakaway goals,” Horton said. “She quickly showed what she can do on the offensive side of the ball.
Shehan added another goal in the 71st minute, assisted by freshman Lilly Anne Lancaster.
“We wanted to see her get more offensive looks,” Horton said. “Ava-Anne does play some midfield on her travel team in Kitsap, but she’s one of our strongest, fastest players and can make a great midfielder. And Becca has played so well there, she allowed us to do that. Because we have players that have versatility.”
Port Angeles held a 3-0 lead at halftime having scored goals in the 22nd, 27th and 38th minutes.
Kedryn Descala notched the first score, assisted by outside defender Zoe Ernst.
“Zoe played a solid through ball to Ked’s feet and she did a good job of settling with a defender on her back and turned and fired at the goal,” Horton said. “We’ve been urging her to shoot more, and she’s coming around while still getting assists and playing defense.”
Pyper Alton put Port Angeles up 2-0, assisted by Morgan Politika, and Teanna Clark scored the first of her two goals on a Descala assist.
Clark also scored in the 59th minute off an assist by Stella Fradkin.
“We kept our aggressiveness up and focused on our first touch so we didn’t have to fight as much to get the ball off,” Horton said. “They did that, played strong and kept the pedal pushed to the floor.”
The Riders outshot the Knights 24-3 on the night.
Port Angeles (4-2, 4-3) visits Kingston (4-2) tonight at 7 p.m. with third place on the line.
North Kitsap 1, Sequim 0
SEQUIM — The Wolves gave the Olympic League-leading Vikings all they could handle Tuesday night.
“We played super hard, showed great grit and I’m proud of the girls,” Sequim coach Haley Sue Freeman said. “It was a great game, North Kitsap is a great team, but we are a great team as well. We are getting better every day and I know we can beat any team, we just have to keep building.”
“They scored with about 15 minutes left,” Freeman said. “We played great defense. We just had a breakdown. It was a nice goal, [goalkeeper] Kalli [Grove] was so close.
“Kalli had an incredible game, she made 13 saves and she was centimeters away from making that one.”
Freeman said center defensive midfielder Ivy Barrett’s play stood out as well as the team’s defensive back line of Haley Wagner, Libby Turella, Amara Gonzalez and Harper Moore.
“We subbed in Aliyah Siemion and she played great back there,” Freeman said.
Sequim threatened to tie but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“Ruby [Moxley-Horgan] had a few shots on goal, Sasha Yada followed in a cross from Raimey [Brewer] that the keeper fumbled and she was right there,” Freeman said.
“We never gave up and played to the last minute.”
The Wolves (2-4) visit Bremerton tonight.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@ peninsuladailynews.com.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Ava-Anne Sheahan, right, takes the header as Bremerton’s Melanie Uhrich closes in on Tuesday night in Port Angeles.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Teanna Clark, center, moves with the pack of Bremerton’s Melanie Uhrich, left, and Mia Alexander in Tuesday’s match in Port Angeles.
