PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula Pirates dominated the NWAACC All-Star teams just as they dominated the West Division this season.
Peninsula College placed eight women and eight men on the NWAACC South/West All-Star Teams, the conference has announced.
Sophomore Bri Afoa was named Most Valuable Player for the South/West women for the second straight year, and her counterpart on the men’s team, Alex Martinez, also earned the MVP award.
“Bri and Alex are two outstanding soccer players and are very deserving of the MVP awards,” Peninsula College director of athletics Rick Ross said.
“Their ability to score goals is uncanny, but it’s also the product of sharing the turf with outstanding teammates.
“We have eight players on each of the two All-Star teams — and still the voters left some outstanding Pirate women and men on the table. Our two teams are talented, deep and very well-coached, and the All-Star balloting certainly reflects that.”
Afoa also was named as an All-Star forward.
Joining her on the South/West Women’s All-Star team are teammates Bronte Fitzsimmons, also a forward, midfielders Brenda Torres, Alyssa Bertuliet and Annie Armstrong, and defenders Shelbi Vienna-Hallam, Misty Kaiwi and Miranda Sochacki.
Martinez was honored both as an MVP and a forward for the men. He is joined by forward Ash Apollon, midfielders Erick Urzua and Kalei Gallarde, defenders Mark Cottrell, Lachlan Bond and Zac Newton, and goalkeeper Angel Guerra.
Missing from the West Region All-Star recognition this year, however, were Peninsula’s outstanding head coaches, Kanyon Anderson and Andrew Chapman.
Instead, the head coaches from the second-place Highline women’s and men’s team were named West Region Coaches of the Year.
“Tom Moore and Jason Prenovost are both outstanding coaches and do a great job with their respective programs,” Ross said.
“I wouldn’t want to take anything away from them, but I was disappointed that Kanyon and Andrew weren’t honored this year. I hope the other coaches in the NWAACC aren’t taking for granted how hard they work to achieve the success they’ve had.”
The All-Star games will be played Sunday morning, but everyone associated with the Peninsula soccer programs hope none of the 16 honored Pirates will be playing, because the players of teams that qualify for Sunday’s NWAACC championship games do not play in the All-Star games.
The Pirate women open the NWAACC Finals Four with a 1 p.m. match Saturday against Walla Walla at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.
The winner players in Sunday’s championship at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of the other semifinal matchup Clackamas and Edmonds.
The Pirate men also take on Walla Walla in their semifinal match Saturday at 6 p.m.
The winner of that match plays the winner between Highline and Clark in Sunday’s men’s final at 5:30 p.m.
Pirates move up
The Peninsula men and women both moved up a spot in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association’s Junior College National Poll.
The Pirate men moved up to seventh, which is where they finished last year after winning the 2012 NWAACC championship.
The women’s team finally surpassed the No. 14 spot, moving up to 13th in this week’s rankings.
Both Peninsula teams also are ranked No. 1 in the NWAACC Coaches Poll.
Here are the national rankings:
National Soccer Coaches Association
Men’s Junior College National Poll
Prev. W-L-T
1. Iowa Western CC 1 21-0-0
2. San Jacinto College 2 18-1-0
3. Tyler JC 3 16-2-0
4. Yavapai College 4 18-2-4
5. Cincinnati State Tech. & CC 5 16-1-2
6. Eastern Florida State College 6 13-1-2
7. Peninsula College 8 19-0-2
8. Georgia Perimeter College 9 14-2-3
9. Phoenix College 10 16-1-5
10. Burlington CC 12 15-3-2
11. Bryant & Stratton Business 9 11-1-0
12. Darton State College 11 13-3-1
13. Dakota County Tech. Coll. 16 15-3-1
14. Lewis & Clark CC 19 14-5-1
15. CC of Baltimore Co.-Essex 18 10-4-4
16. Louisburg College 13 12-7-1
17. Otero JC 14 16-6-0
18. Marshalltown CC 20 14-3-1
19. Jefferson College 15 15-7-1
20. Parkland College NR 11-2-4
Women’s Junior College National Poll
Prev. W-L-T
1. Paradise Valley CC 1 20-1-1
2. Iowa Western CC 2 17-2-0
3. Navarro College 3 16-3-1
4. Butler CC 4 21-2-0
5. Laramie County CC 5 17-2-1
6. Darton State College 6 20-1-0
7. Monroe College (N.Y.) 7 13-1-0
8. Coll. of Southern Maryland 10 17-1-0
9. Eastern Florida State Coll. 11 11-2-1
10. Tyler JC 8 16-3-1
11. Lewis & Clark CC 9 19-2-0
12. Cape Fear CC 12 17-2-0
13. Peninsula College 14 17-2-0
14. Georgia Perimeter College 13 14-2-0
15. Johnson County CC 15 17-3-1
16. Monroe CC (N.Y.) 16 13-5-0
17. Iowa Central CC 18 13-3-1
18. Chandler-Gilbert CC 19 16-5-2
19. Cisco College 20 12-5-1
20. Owens CC NR 17-2-0
20. St. Louis CC NR 15-5-2
