PORT ANGELES — Miguel Gonzalez wasted little time in his quest for the Peninsula College men’s soccer career scoring title.
One game after moving within a goal of Ernest Boham’s scoring mark in a 2-0 win at Clark, the sophomore striker set a new school record with two more within seven minutes of each other Wednesday at Sigmar Field.
The 20th and 21st of his career, Gonzalez’s goals vaulted the Pirates to a 5-0 nonleague win over Pierce College and the team’s fourth straight victory to begin the season.
“It’s well-deserved,” Pirate men’s coach Andrew Chapman said of the record. “He’s a guy who works extremely hard, is a great team player.
“He’s leading the team in assists now also, so he’s showing he’s not just a selfish player. He’s a great guy all around. He definitely deserves to break that record and be in the record book, and we’re hoping he can continue and just shatter that record.”
It’s hard to believe that won’t happen. After all, Gonzalez has now scored six goals in four starts this fall while also dishing out three assists.
On Wednesday, he opened the Pirates scoring in the 35th minute after beating the Pierce goaltender to a Prince Ash cross in front of the goal.
Minutes later, he got past the goalie with an open net and was intentionally taken down in the middle of the penalty box. He drove the ensuing penalty kick into the back of the net to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
With the Pierce goalie sent off with a red card, the rout was on.
“He’s a true goal scorer, somebody that always has a knack of finding the goal,” Chapman said.
“Sometimes you have guys who have to work really hard [for goals.] Miguel, he works hard, but goals come pretty naturally for him.”
Peninsula’s 4-0-0 start to the season is the best in school history. Last year’s team was unbeaten through 10 games, but that included two ties early on.
Peninsula has now outscored opponents 14-2 in four games.
“It was nice to get our second shutout in a row,” Chapman said. “We didn’t play our best today but still did enough to get a win.”
Combining for the save in goal were Jared Wilson and Guilherme Avelar. Ash finished the game with two assists.
Peninsula 5, Pierce 0
Pierce 0 0 — 0
Peninsula 2 3 — 5
Scoring Summary
First half: 1, Peninsula, M. Gonzalez (Ash), 35th minute; 2, Peninsula, M. Gonzalez (Gioseffi), 42nd minute.
Second Half: 3, Peninsula, Prizeman (Ash), 46th minute; 4, Peninsula, Holguin (Hughes), 70th minute; 5, Peninsula, Hindmarch (Chowdhury), 76th minute.
