PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders soccer team actually won two games last night — one on the field and one on the scoreboard.
The Roughriders needed a win over Kingston to force a second-place tie with North Kitsap in the Olympic League standings, and they got it done. After a 1–1 halftime tie, Port Angeles pulled away in the second half for a 4–2 victory.
The Roughriders might want to send flowers to Bainbridge, which beat North Kitsap 2–0 — leaving the Vikings tied with Port Angeles for second place. As of press time, the Roughriders had also moved ahead of the Vikings in the RPI rankings, with Port Angeles now at #12 and North Kitsap at #13.
If those standings hold, the Roughriders would earn the #4 district playoff seed — giving them a first-round bye Saturday and a home playoff game Tuesday. The district draw will be announced Thursday night.
Kingston struck early, scoring in the 3rd minute for a 1–0 lead. But at the 28th minute, Mariah Traband evened it up on a cross from Morgan Politika — Traband’s eighth goal and Politika’s third assist of the season.
In the second half, Lilly Anne Lancaster took over, scoring in the 54th and 69th minutes for her fifth and sixth goals of the year. Lancaster has now scored four times in her last three games, drawing extra defensive attention and freeing up the “M&M combo” of Emma Desjardins and Traband.
Traband added her second goal of the night — again assisted by Desjardins, who now has seven assists this season. Port Angeles outshot Kingston 24–4.
Roughrider Lilly Anne Lancaster (#10) heads to the KONP Newsradio postgame show after a red-hot stretch — scoring four goals in her last three games.
Meanwhile, Sequim topped Bremerton 3–1.
Ruby Moxley Horgon scored twice, giving her nine goals on the year, and Harper More added the third. Assists came from Kaiya Robinson, Olive Bridge — her seventh — and Raimey Brewer, who leads the team with nine assists.
The Dungeness Goal Rush — Kiley Winter and Ruby Moxley Horgon — leads the Sequim Wolves into the district playoffs with 7 and 9 goals, respectively.
The Wolves finish the regular season 6–8 in league play, good for fifth place. They’re expected to earn the #8 seed and host a playoff game Saturday at Peninsula College, possibly against Franklin Pierce.
And in NWAC soccer today — Peninsula College hosts Bellevue, with the men kicking off at 2:00 and the women at 4:15.