PORT ANGELES — The road to the NWAACC Soccer Final Four goes through Sigmar Field, where the Peninsula College women have never lost and the men’s team hasn’t lost since the 2009 season when the field still had a grass surface.
The Pirate women, ranked 14th in the nation and first in the NWAACC, host Whatcom at 11 a.m. Saturday in the first half of an NWAACC quarterfinal playoff doubleheader.
The Peninsula men, ranked eighth in the nation and first in the NWAACC, will play Edmonds at 1:15 p.m.
The winners of those two playoff matches advance to the NWAACC Final Four, set for Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16-17, at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.
“Our teams play great soccer on every pitch, but especially at Sigmar Field,” Peninsula director of athletics Rick Ross said.
“We’re looking for a big crowd to come out and help them advance to the Final Four, where we have all of the pieces in place to repeat as NWAACC champions.
“We are well coached, we’re mostly healthy, we’re talented, and we’re very focused.
“There are other great programs in the NWAACC who are gunning for us, but it all starts Saturday. If we can take care of business on our home turf, in front of our home fans, I like our chances next week at Starfire.”
Admission to Saturday’s playoff matches is free.
Men’s quarterfinal
The Pirate men will be making their seventh straight appearance in the quarterfinals.
A win would send them to the Final Four for the third straight year, where they have won two NWAACC championships (2010, 2012).
Riding the wave of their fifth straight West Division title, the Peninsula men will tackle Edmonds, the second-place finisher from the NWAACC North Division.
The Tritons advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 3-0 win over Pierce, the third-place finisher from the South, in a first-round playoff game Wednesday night at Edmonds.
Peninsula, 18-0-2 on the season, is led by goal-scoring sensation Alex Martinez, a sophomore from Reno, Nev., who leads the NWAACC in scoring with 26 goals.
The Pirates, who lead the NWAACC in scoring as a team with 78 goals, have four players in the NWAACC’s top 15 in scoring, including Ash Apollon with 15 goals, Kalei Gallarde with eight, Christian Martinez with eight.
Apollon leads the NWAACC in assists with 15, Erick Urzua is fourth in the NWAACC with 10, Alex Martinez sixth with nine, Gallarde ninth with seven and Victor Sanchez and Christian Martinez are close behind with six each.
Defensively, the Pirates lead the NWAACC with the fewest goals scored against them with 11.
Pirates goalkeeper Angel Guerra boasts an NWAACC-leading 10 shutouts, which he has accomplished with the help of a talented defensive back line led by Mark Cottrell, Corbyn May, Zach Newton and Lachlan Bond.
The Tritons, 9-7-3 this year, are led by Zak Taylor, who has eight goals this year, and Miguel Medina, who has seven.
Women’s quarterfinal
The Pirate women, 17-2-0, are West Division champions for the third straight year and are unbeaten against NWAACC opponents this year.
They will be making their third straight appearance in a quarterfinals in only the fourth year of the Peninsula College women’s soccer program.
They are 2 for 2 in their two previous appearances, both at home, and will hope to return to the Final Four with a win Saturday against the Whatcom Orcas, who defeated Clark in an overtime shootout Wednesday night in Bellingham.
The Orcas, 10-1-8, finished second in the North Region and were unbeaten against NWAACC schools in conference play, although they were tied seven times.
The Pirates have scored 83 goals this year, second only to Walla Walla’s 96, and have allowed 11, which is also second to Walla Walls’s six.
The Orcas have a significantly less-potent offense, scoring only 42 goals this year, but their defense is stout, giving up only 11.
They are also the only other NWAACC team to not lose to a conference team. The difference is Whatcom (9-0-7) has seven ties, while Peninsula has none (16-0-0).
The Pirates are led by Bri Afoa, a sophomore forward from Kapolei, Hawaii, who is in the hunt for the NWAACC scoring title with 23 goals, and Bronte Fitzsimmons, of Victoria, B.C., who leads the NWAACC in assists with 21 and who is also a dangerous striker with 10 goals.
The Pirates also have Shelbi Vienna-Hallam with eight goals, Mary Pierce with seven, Larkyn Nelson with six and Annie Armstrong and Brenda Torres with five each.
Defensively, the Pirates have three outstanding keepers in Kasie Lough who has five shutouts, Emily Flinn with four and Laura Morgan with three.
The keepers also have a strong back line, led by Vienna-Hallam, Miranda Sochacki, Misty Kaiwi, Dominique Niedziela and Paxton Rodocker.
Whatcom is led by Kylie Garrison’s 12 goals and 10 from Bailey Butcher.
Video streaming
All of Peninsula’s home matches feature a live video stream.
Fans who can’t make the match can go to the Pirate Athletics web page (www.athletics.pencol.edu) and click on the UStream link.
