PORT ANGELES — The Bellevue Bulldogs are becoming thorns in the sides of the Peninsula College soccer teams.
Bellevue has played the Peninsula men and women as competitively as any Northwest Athletic Conference opponents have this season.
At two different locations Saturday, the Pirates and Bulldogs played to a pair of 1-1 draws.
It is the second tie in less than two weeks between the two men’s teams.
The Peninsula women defeated the Bulldogs earlier this month, but only managed one goal in a 1-0 victory.
Women’s Game
Peninsula 1, Bellevue 1
PORT ANGELES — The Pirates were poised to keep a one-game NWAC West Division lead on Highline, but a Bellevue goal in the 90th minute by Melody Blake forced Peninsula to settle for a tie at Wally Sigmar Field.
Port Angeles High School graduate Paxton Rodocker scored an unassisted goal in the 55th minute to put Peninsula in front.
The Bulldogs are now only the second team to score a goal against the Pirates this season.
Peninsula (13-1-2, 16-1-2, 41 points) still holds the tiebreaker over Highline (14-1-2, 16-1-2, 44 points) because they possess a win and a tie in head-to-head action with the Thunderbirds.
The Pirates close out the regular season at home against Grays Harbor (0-16-0, 1-16-1) on Wednesday at 1 p.m. and on the road against Olympic (6-9-1, 10-9-1) this Saturday.
Highline has only one game left, a road matchup Saturday with Tacoma (7-7-2, 8-10-2).
Peninsula and Highline have already clinched the top two spots in the West Division.
The division champion enjoys a first-round bye in the NWAC tournament and then gets to host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, Nov. 8.
The second-place finisher hosts a first round game Wednesday, Nov. 5, but then must go on the road for the quarterfinals.
Men’s Game
Peninsula 1, Bellevue 1
TUKWILA — The Pirates scored a late goal at Starfire Sports Complex to salvage a draw and stay within a game of Highline.
With only one division game left, Peninsula likely will finish second in the NWAC West Division and host a first-round tournament game Wednesday, Nov. 5.
But if the Pirates (8-1-3, 11-1-3, 27 points) win at Olympic on Saturday and the Thunderbirds (9-1-2, 9-2-3, 29 points) happen to fall at Tacoma (4-6-1, 7-8-1) that same day then Peninsula would claim the division’s top spot at the tournament and have a first-round bye.
Saturday’s draw was the third in five games for the defending champion Pirates.
The match was scoreless until the 75th minute when Anthony Dean put the Bulldogs ahead 1-0 with a goal off an assist from Victor Lopez.
Peninsula answered fairly quickly with an 80th-minute goal by Santiago Sierra that was set up by Trevan Estrellado.
The Pirates host Trinity Lutheran on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Wally Sigmar Field for a nonconference tilt before facing Olympic in Bremerton on Saturday.
