By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders girls soccer team continued their run of good results against state-ranked teams, beating Klahowya, the third-ranked Class 1A team 4-3 Tuesday night at Civic Field.
A strong start boosted the Riders, who jumped out to an early lead in just the second minute.
Senior Kyrsten McGuffey played a ball to Millie Long who dribbled past a defender and the Eagles’ goalie for her first goal of the night.
Port Angeles went up 2-0 right before halftime when Long beat three defenders with some quick dribbling moves and played the ball across the goal to freshman Bailee Larson who finished strongly from close range.
“I was very happy with our second goal,” said coach Scott Moseley. “We have worked on that all season and for them to connect like that and recognize each other’s movements was great.”
The second half started off on a bad note for the home team as Klahowya pulled back two goals in 13 minutes and took the lead 3-2 in the 64th minute.
“They’re obviously an excellent, quality team that didn’t like being behind. They ramped up their play while we started to lose focus,” said Moseley.
Moseley said the Riders regained their composure in the 67th minute and turned the tide of the game. Brooklyn Alton sent in a cross from the left side of the field that floated to freshman Mia Gagnon, who buried the ball into the goal, her third score of the season, for the tie.
With both teams pressing for the winning goal, Port Angeles defender Bella Money found Long open on the left side. Long beat a diving goalie and calmly finished into the open net for the game winner. It was Long’s 14th goal of the year to go along with 7 assists.
Defensively, Moseley recognized Money and Lucah Folden for their play.
“Bella broke up play after play while Lucah was instrumental in starting our counterattacks with a strong connection to our midfielders,” Moseley said.
Port Angeles (6-2-0, 9-3-0) sit third in the Olympic League 2A Division with four games remaining as the Riders look to qualify for the post-season for the sixth year in a row.
Port Angeles visits North Mason (3-5, 4-7) today.
Volleyball Klahowya 3, Port Angeles 1
PORT ANGELES — The Riders fell in a nonleague contest against the Eagles 25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16 on Tuesday.
Aeverie Politika and Madison Cooke led Port Angeles with seven kills apiece. Emi Halberg added six kills, while Sam Robbins added three while leading the team in hitting percentage.
“Kennedy Bruch was the spark that we needed in the second game,” Riders coach Christine Halberg said. “She brought her energy and talk tonight as well as leading the team overall in passing and serve receive. She got to some balls tonight that were going out of bounds that never should have made it back in play.”
Defensively, Politika added a team-high 11 digs.
Cooke and Robbins added two blocks apiece and Nacia Bohman had two aces and 18 assists.
“The girls play so well at times that it seems they are unstoppable,” Halberg said. “They play hard, make some amazing plays, and celebrate big. We need to keep focusing on those positives and believe in ourselves.”
Port Angeles (0-8, 0-10) travels to North Mason (4-4, 6-4) today.
Boys Tennis North Kitsap 5, Sequim 2
SEQUIM — The Wolves took two matches off the Olympic League Champion-Vikings, but couldn’t claim the overall victory at home Tuesday.
Sequim (8-4) hosts Olympic today.
The Olympic League Tennis Championships will begin at North Kitsap next Thursday.
North Kitsap 5, Sequim 2
Match Report
Singles
No. 1: Sam Horn (NK) def. Raymond Lam (S) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
No. 2: Chris Schuhart (NK) def. Sam Frymyer (S) 6-2, 6-0.
No. 3: Ian Lyons (NK) def. Liam Braaten (S) 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles
No. 1: Blake Wiker/Thomas Hughes (S) def. Jared Reister/Logan Chimelewsi (NK) 6-4, 6-0.
No. 2: Damon Little/Liam Payne (S) def. Max Larsen/Ryan Schmidt (NK) 6-4, 6-3.
No. 3: Aidan Adams/Ryan Singleton (NK) def. Ryan Tolberd/Nate Despain (S) 6-0, 6-0.
No. 4: Cole Walker/Brandon Cole (NK) def. Henry Hughes/Dustin Koch (S) 6-0, 6-1.
