The Hockinson Hawks opened up the 2A girls soccer state playoffs with a 1-0, hard-fought victory over the gritty Port Angeles Roughriders on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The No. 6-seeded Hawks gained an early lead with an eighth-minute goal scored by Kaili Humphrey in their opening round win over 11-seeded Port Angeles High School. The goal ended up being the winner, but also a triumphant feat as the Roughrider’s goalkeeper, Kennedy Rognlien, went on to make 16 saves, many of them in heroic fashion.
“I’m really, really proud of the girls because these games sometimes are hard, right?” Hawks head coach Tony Ayala said. “They’re hard to keep mentally in the game. We’re up 1-0. We’re missing chances, but we were just staying mentally focused.”
Ayala said his team has been playing their best brand of soccer at the right time. Scoring the early goal proved crucial, as it forced the defensive powerhouse of Port Angeles to hunt and search harder on offense, leading to the Hawks causing numerous disruptions and turnovers.
The Hawks entered the state quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last six state tournaments,
on Saturday, Nov. 15.
“This team has had a fantastic year,” Ayala said of the Hawks reaching the quarterfinals. “With teams you kind of go through this ebb and flow period and we thought we started the season really, really well. The Woodland game, I think that was a little bit of a lull in the season. But we came back strong.”
The Hawks traveled north to Sehome High School in Bellingham and continued their season on to the final four with a 1-0 win on Saturday, Nov.
Ahead of their state quarterfinal matchup against 3-seeded Sehome, Ayala said the Hawks will now have to be the ones focusing on defense.
“Their attack is strong, and those girls just don’t quit at Sehome,” he said. “They’re just big and powerful. It’s a really, really tough league up there. They’ve got some really strong teams. So, we’ll go do our due diligence and watch a little film on them.”
The Hawks also battle it out in a tough league. The Hawks faced the first overall seed, Columbia River, three times this season. Despite all three resulting in losses, the Hawks gained valuable experience in each matchup against the Rapids.
“We’ll play anybody, anywhere,” Ayala said. “This is what the whole state tournament is about and two programs rich in soccer history are going to go to battle.”
