TUKWILA — The Peninsula College men’s soccer team got into the win column in their NWAC Friendlies opener with a 3-0 victory over Southwest Oregon on Tuesday.
The tournament is held at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila. The men will play rival Tacoma at 4 p.m. today also in Tukwila.
Southwest Oregon out of Coos Bay was a solid South Region team last year with a 10-4-2 overall record. The Pirates are the defending North Region champions.
Veteran sophomore Tsubasa Abe scored one goal for the Pirates while fellow sophomore Finlay Muotone scored a pair of goals as the Pirates bounced back from a 2-0 season-opening loss Aug. 16 to Wenatchee Valley.
“I think we looked positive .. we were direct in our attack,” said coach Jake Hughes. “We got caught out a few times in transition. That’s something we need to improve.”
Zach Beehre, Caleb Rollo and Pau Vivas all collected assists for the Pirates, while goalkeeper Noah Plummer earned the victory, making six saves.
Tacoma is a team the Pirates (1-1) know well, having beat them 5-1 last year. Hughes said the goal going in to that game is “to do the same thing again. We don’t need to try to complicate things. We just need to keep things simple.”
The Peninsula women (1-0) played a tough Lower Columbia team at the friendlies after press deadline. They play again in Tukwila at 2 p.m. today against Centralia.
