PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s and women’s soccer teams passed their final regular season road tests with wins over the Olympic College Rangers.
Already NWAACC West Division champions, the two bands of Pirates head into this week’s home matches with three things on their mind: Honoring sophomores, defending home win streaks and preparing to defend their conference championships.
Peninsula hosts Bellevue on Wednesday at Wally Sigmar Field. The women kick off at 2 p.m., while the men play at 4 p.m.
The men’s match marks the final regular season home appearance for eight sophomores.
The women’s team will recognize 13 sophomores when it closes out its regular season campaign Saturday at noon against Lower Columbia College.
Should the Pirates prevail on both of those dates, they would complete their third straight season without a home loss since the college opened the renovated Wally Sigmar Field.
This week also is the final tuneup for Peninsula’s NWAACC second-round playoff date, set for 11 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, against the winners of first round matches, which will be played Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The second-round winners go straight to the NWAACC Final Four on Nov. 16-17 at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila.
Men’s Soccer
Peninsula 4, Olympic 1
BREMERTON — The men’s match featured a bit of a grudge match for the top-ranked Pirates, whose only blemish on their conference record came earlier this month when last-place Olympic packed 10 players into the box for most of 90 minutes to secure a scoreless tie.
Saturday’s rematch at Olympic was scoreless for 39 minutes, but the Pirates then rallied for four straight goals to avenge the tie.
Christian Martinez, Alex Martinez, Caio Maciel and Dawda Dibba each scored for the Pirates, with assists by Lachlan Bond, Victor Sanchez, Erick Urzua and Hugo Marques.
“Olympic tried to sit in and defend the entire game again, but we were able to get a goal up on them and that opened up the game,” Peninsula coach Andrew Chapman said.
The Rangers broke up the shutout with a goal in the 88th minute by Douglas Dode.
With the win, Peninsula is now 11-0-1 in conference play and 17-0-2 overall.
Women’s Soccer
Peninsula 2, Olympic 0
BREMERTON — In Saturday’s final regular season road trip, the Pirates improved to 14-0-0 in conference play and 15-2-0 overall
The match pitted the NWAACC’s top-ranked Pirates against the West Division’s fourth-place team, but as they did on Oct. 9, the defensive-minded Rangers played Peninsula tough.
Following a scoreless first half, the Pirates broke through with a goal-scoring combination that featured two reserves.
Alexandra Rojas-Ayala scored off an assist by Mary Pierce in the 56th minute, and the two combined for another goal five minutes later when Rojas-Ayala got the ball to Pierce, who provide the insurance tally.
Kasie Lough recorded the shutout, her fifth of the season.
“We were a little flat in the first half but we found a way to break through in the second half,” Peninsula coach Kanyon Anderson said.
“We are looking ahead to playoffs and might have to face similar defensive game plans, so this was a good warm up for us.”
