Port Townsend gets revenge

It took the Port Townsend girls soccer squad three tries to top Klahowya.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

After tying the Redskins 0-0 in September before topping Port Townsend 2-0 last month, the Eagles fell on their home turf in the 2A West Central District 3 playoffs, 3-2 in the loser-out match.

Klahowya, which had entered the game as the No. 4 seed (PT was No. 5) finished the season 8-7-1 overall (7-5-0 in Nisqually League play). PT was just 4-9-1 heading into the game.

“Mistakes really hurt us tonight,” Klahowya coach Troy Oelschlager said. “There were times we should have headed the ball that we didn’t and those hurt us.”

The Eagles went up early, dominating the first 20 minutes of the contest. JV call-up Theresa Pryzbylek, making her varsity debut in the first-round playoff, got the Eagles rolling with a shot that just beat Port Townsend keeper Jesse Stenehjem in the third minute. That gave the Eagles early momentum that allowed them to fire off several shots in the early going.

“In the first 20 minutes, it just looked like things were going to go our way tonight,” Oelschlager said. “But that’s why you play 80 minutes.”

The Eagles had several opportunities to build on that lead in the first half, with Brittany Corley putting a shot in hard that Stenehjem just deflected. Moments later, Klahowya co-captain Sheree Kuehl placed a great cross in front of the Port Townsend net, but freshman Sophie Tiknis just couldn’t get enough on the header to punch it through.

The first half ended 1-0

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