PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men got off 28 shots, and 13 shots on goal, against an 0-8 Pierce College team that only got off two weak shots on goal all match Saturday.
It sounds like a blowout, but the final score was a misleading 1-0.
It was a win for Peninsula and more importantly a crossover win that counts in the North Region standings, but it was a frustrating win against a weak team that had allowed 29 goals in its previous seven games. Whatcom, whom the Pirates face next, beat the same team 6-0.
Coach Jakes Hughes was not happy with the Pirates’ inability to finish.
“We need to score,” Hughes said. “We have to do better. They’re a team we need to do better against.”
One of the reasons for the low score was that Peninsula had three goals taken off the scoreboard for offsides.
In addition to 28 shots on goal, the Pirates had 10 corner kicks.
Peninsula’s Tim Deser, front left, and Kai Biegler, rear right, fight for a header with Pierce’s Christian Mago, front right, and Andres Perez-Solis, rear left, on Saturday at Wally Sigmar Field in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Sometimes in soccer a team can completely dominate the match but not score and a weaker team can win or force a draw with a surprise counterattack late. Hughes said the team had nothing to worry about against a team that packed the defensive end of the field and barely attempted to mount any offense. The ball stayed in the Pierce end of the field virtually all game. Much of the time, 10 Peninsula players were across the center line involved in the offense.
Pierce didn’t have a single shot on goal until the 63rd minute and that was a fairly weak shot from distance that was easily gobbled up by Pirates’ keeper Taiki Setoguchi.
“We had nothing to get nervous about,” Hughes said.
Tsubasa Abe scored an unassisted goal in the 26th minute when he made a move on a Raiders’ defender, causing him to slip and fall and had a wide-open shot for a goal.
The Pirates had some golden opportunities but just couldn’t get the ball in, especially in the second half. Pau Vivas Ayala had a sharp-angle shot in the 50th minute that beat the goalkeeper, but banged off the far post.
Yusaku Shimakura had a free kick from 30 yards out that looked headed for a certain goal in the far right corner of the net, but Pierce keeper Donovan Small made a spectacular diving stop to keep the ball out. Shu Kato had a nice header on a corner that went just wide of the net. Kai Biegler had a powerful shot from long range in the 77th minute that forced Small to make another diving save. Those were among Peninsula’s best chances other than the three goals that were waved off.
The Pirates (3-1 North, 6-1 overall) are sure to have a tougher test Saturday as North rival Whatcom (2-0, 4-1) comes to visit at 2 p.m. at Wally Sigmar Field.
Peninsula’s Brian Guzman, right, fights for ball control with Pierce’s Holden Anderson as Guzman’s teammate, Dylan Pauw, looks on during Saturday’s match in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
