PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend soccer girls got a pair of goals from freshman Kaylen Pray and were nearly able to pull off a big upset over 2A Kingston.
In the end, a goal in the final minute by the Buccaneers ended the Redhawks’ chances as Kingston went on to win 5-3.
Kingston got its first goal in Saturday’s match literally in the first minute, said coach Robert Cantley.
“It’s like we didn’t have breakfast,” Cantley said.
The Bucs pushed the score to 3-0 on a “couple of freakish looping crosses,” Cantley, but the Redhawks fought back. Pray scored her first goal ever for the Redhawks just before the half to make it 3-1.
Kingston got a goal early in the second half. Then the Redhawks caught a break when Kingston scored an own goal and Pray made the Bucs sweat when she scored her second goal of the match to make it 4-3.
Port Townsend was pressing with most of their players up in the offensive zone late looking to tie the match and Kingston was able to take advantage with a quick strike in the closing moments of the game.
“I was happy with how we responded,” Cantley said. Eight out of his 11 starters are freshmen or sophomores.
Port Townsend next plays at Bremerton on Thursday.
Cross country Forks at King’s Cross
SHORELINE — The Forks cross-country teams got a pair of top-10 finishes at the King’s Cross Invitational.
Wesley Camacho finished seventh for the Spartans at Saturday’s race with a time of 17 minutes, 48.08 seconds.
For the girls, Madelyn Archibald finished 10th with a time of 22:04.76.
Other boys’ times include:
William Perez, 15th, 18:32.55; Matthew Larson, 20th, 18:55.86; Arturo Dominguez, 22nd, 19:02.14; Colton Duncan, 31st, 19:39.19; Ashton Doyle, 37th, 20:14.87.
For the girls, Karen Ensastegui finished 12th with a time of 22:30.94 and Savannah Meyer finished 24th with a time of 24:24.74.
A total of eight schools participated in the event.
Volleyball Port Angeles at Mark Morris Challenge
LONGVIEW — The Port Angeles Roughriders went up against some of the toughest volleyball competition in the state at the Mark Morris Challenge this weekend.
The Riders didn’t weren’t able to come away with a victory, but coach Jennifer Reynolds liked what she saw and thought the team played well against strong opposition that will help the team prepare for the second half of the season.
“These are high-caliber teams. These are North Kitsap-caliber teams,” Reynolds said.
“We didn’t come up with a win, but we played so well,” she said. “I’m so impressed.”
The Riders were without Ava Brenkman, who had to sit out through concussion protocal after getting hit in the head Friday against North Kitsap. Marie Burns also didn’t make the trip because she was participating in Saturday’s Big Hurt competition.
Reynolds also said she thought the Riders played strong against perennial power North Kitsap on Friday. “Our blocking was awesome” in that match, she said. The Vikings, defending Olympic League 2A Division champions, won 3-0.
The Riders (1-3, 2-3) return to league action with a road trip Tuesday against Bremerton (0-4, 0-4). Port Angeles doesn’t get a home match until Oct. 10, but then the Roughriders get to play four out of their last six matches at home.