PTHS Soccer Roundup

Week of April 7, 2008

On Tuesday, April 8 the team traveled to Silverdale to face 3A Olympic. Both teams were undefeated prior to the match, but the Trojans prevailed, defeating the Redskins 3-0.

The artificial turf presented problems for the Redskins. “We hit several balls with too much pace and they went right to the keeper,” said Short.

Olympic scored in the 31st minute on a breakaway by Miles Appleton. In the second half Cody Clark turned hard on a ball and hit it into the net for the 2-0 lead. Derek Conway-Newton hit the final goal with less than a minute to go in the match.

The score did not reflect the competitive nature of the match. “We were able to play with them for several stretches," said Short.

Fearless awards: Mike Thielk and Sam Selisch

On Thursday, April 10 the Redskins defeated the 3A reigning league champ Peninsula Seahawks 5-1 at Memorial Field. Coach Dean Short singled out the defense in the victory. “Our defense played very well. Rio Sabella had some big plays for us and our keeper Ethan Berg was outstanding,” said Short.

Ross Bringgold scored off a crossing ball from Alex Lockwood to give the Redskins an early lead. Peninsula evened the match in the 28th minute on a goal by Jesse Rohwer. Aaron Owen put the home team on top for good when he dribbled down the left wing and hit back of the net in the 35th minute.

The Seahawks challenged the Redskins during the first 20 minutes of the second half. “We survived a hard charge by Peninsula and then finally broke their backs with a scoring burst,” said Short.

Sam Selisch started that burst with a goal off a long free kick from Rio Sabella about 25 minutes into the second half. Just three minutes later Selisch collected a second goal when he hit a rebound off the post from his own shot. Lockwood closed the scoring, hitting a cross from Bringgold in the 71st minute.

"We possessed the ball well and were able to score when we had chances. This is a big win for us," observed Short. On the same night Port Townsend defeated Peninsula, Sequim upset Olympic to create a three-way tie for first place.

Fearless awards: Ethan Berg and Rio Sabella

The Redskins faced Port Angeles at Civic Field last night and will tackle rival Sequim on Saturday, April 19 at home.

In junior varsity action this week, Olympic defeated the JV’s 3-1. Chris Shively scored the lone goal for Port Townsend. Peninsula topped the Redskin JV 5-0 on Thursday. “We continue to improve even though we lost both matches this week,” said JV coach Sam Nowak.

At the midway point of the season Port Townsend (4-1-1 league, 4-2-2 overall) is one of three teams tied at the top in the race for the league title and one half game behind Kingston in the division race for placement to the district tournament.