PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula Soccer men get one more crack at home today at what has turned into their biggest nemesis of the season, the Whatcom Orcas.
It could be a match for the North Division title and it could affect playoff seeding. Both teams are undefeated in Northwest Conference play and in fact, Whatcom’s only two blemishes on its record, both ties, came at the hands of the Pirates.
The women begin play at 2 p.m. with the men’s game beginning around 4 p.m. The women, champions of the North Division, have some lofty goals as well, trying to stay undefeated (they are 13-0-0 in North Division play, 16-0-0 overall) and trying to set yet more records.
But, that won’t be easy against Whatcom, the second-place team of the North Division and a playoff team in its own right. Though the Pirates have beaten the Orcas twice by scores of 6-0 and 7-0.
The women have scored 103 goals in league this year and 119 overall, already breaking the team record for most goals in a season. The all-time NWAC record for goals is 129, within sight for this team with two games remaining in the schedule. However, that record, set in 2007 by Walla Walla, was in 24 games. The Pirates will be trying to break that record in just 18 total games.
Women’s coach Kanyon Anderson said, “we are definitely gunning for the record.”
“As I get older one thing I’ve seen is you think opportunities are going to come around multiple times in a lifetime … and they don’t.”
Anderson pointed out that even if the women don’t reach 129, they will hold the record for most goals-per-game.
The men’s game promises to be an epic battle. Neither team has lost a match in league. Whatcom is the North Division leader with 35 points, while Peninsula is second with 31 (which is also good for the second-most points in the entire NWAC).
Whatcom is a big, physical and exceptionally tall game that really uses its height to control long balls.
In the first game between the two teams in Port Angeles, Whatcom got up 1-0 on the Pirates early, forcing the Pirates to fight back ferociously in the second half to force a 2-2 tie (Peninsula actually briefly held a lead in that second half.).
The second game was almost a mirror opposite. Peninsula got up 2-1 and Whatcom fought back in the second half to take a 3-2 lead. The Pirates got a draw when they scored a late goal.
Coach Jake Hughes said errors by the Pirates allowed the Orcas to come back on them in that second game.
Hughes said the team isn’t getting caught up in any hype about the Whatcom game.
“We approach every game the same way,” Hughes said. “We do our job, game-by-game, day-by-day. Our objective is to improve every day.”
Hughes said Whatcom’s size is an advantage, but that the team has some flaws, too, that the Pirates will be looking to exploit.
“We are aware of their strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
The women, who have been utterly dominant all season, have actually hit a mild lull in their past two games, scoring just three goals against Everett and Skagit Valley. Anderson thinks that the third time around in the North Division, some teams have learned to play the Pirates differently to keep the score down.
“That’s a lot of what we’ve run into,” he said. Also, the Pirates have been playing some younger players to rest starters who are banged up and have played five out of their past six games on the road.
“This is the most difficult stretch we’ve had in eight years. I think the women are feeling the grind a little bit,” Anderson said.
The women’s game today begins at 2 p.m. at Sigmar Field, while the men’s game begins at 4 p.m. The Pirates wrap up their regular season at home Saturday with matches against Edmonds at noon for the women and 2 p.m. for the men.
