PORT ANGELES — Both the Peninsula College men’s and women’s soccer teams will begin the season as the preseason No. 1-ranked squads in the Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Peninsula College men are coming off an NWAC championship. The men beat Highline in penalty kicks in the championship in November of last year. Highline this year is ranked No. 3.
The men received 176 points from the coaches’ vote and 13 first-place votes. Columbia Basin, which Peninsula beat in the NWAC semifinals last year, was second with 131 points and one first-place vote while Highline had 127 points and one first-place vote.
Five out of the top 10 schools in the coaches’ poll that came out Tuesday are from the NWAC North Region, meaning the Pirates could face a rugged regular season. Everett is ranked No. 4, Bellevue No. 6, Skagit Valley No. 9 and Whatcom No. 10.
Peninsula, Bellevue, Everett and Whatcom were all involved in a season-long dogfight last year for the North Region crown, with the Pirates pulling away in the final two weeks to win the North and the No. 1 seed out of the region.
The women’s poll was much closer. The Pirates, who made it to the NWAC semifinals last year, are No. 1 with 98 points and four first-place votes.
Spokane, which knocked the Pirates out of the Final Four on penalty kicks last year, is ranked No. 2 at 97 points, with one first-place vote.
Last year’s NWAC women’s champion, Columbia Basin, is ranked No. 3 with 91 points, including five first-place votes.
The Peninsula women didn’t lose a single game last year in regulation or overtime, going 16-0-3 before the semifinal penalty kick loss to Spokane.
The Pirates usually dominate the North Region, but might have some tough regular-season competition this year. Three teams from the North are ranked in the top six — Peninsula at No. 1, Bellevue at No. 5 and Skagit Valley at No. 6.
The Pirates men and women are playing exhibition matches in Canada this week. They begin regular-season play with pre-conference games in the NWAC Friendlies on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.
