PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula men and women soccer squads not only swept visiting teams from Skagit Valley, they both shut out the Cardinals.
The men won a defensive battle 2-0 while the women won 3-0.
The men’s game was tied until the 79th minute when Hide Inoue finally put the Pirates ahead with an unassisted goal. Inoue added an insurance goal in the 90th minute for the final margin.
“We set out the game to be controlled and patient. We knew that they were a good team and that we had to control the game in all phases and be patient,” said head coach Jake Hughes.
Hughes felt that Inoue’s pair of goals was a result of that patience paying off.
“The team performances was the most important thing to me. Collectively, it was a really good game,” he said.
Evan Scholes picked up the shutout for the Pirates. The Cardinals outshot the Pirates 12 to 11, though Scholes was only forced to make one save.
The win put the Pirates at 2-1 in the North Division, tied for second place with Everett a half game behind Whatcom, who won the North last year. The win also evens Peninsula’s record at 3-3 overall.
Peninsula (2-1, 3-3) next plays at first-place Whatcom (2-0-1, 4-2-2) on Wednesday.
“The whole North Division is up there year. Everett is exceptional, Whatcom is exceptional and we’re not bad,” Hughes said.
Women’s Soccer Peninsula 3, Skagit Valley 0
PORT ANGELES — The Pirates got an early goal and a late assist from Shantel Torres-Benito to pull out a 3-0 win over Skagit Valley.
Torres-Benito assisted Samantha Oliveira on a goal in the 10th minute to make it 1-0, then two minutes later Emilee Greve scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0.
The game remained at that score until late in the second half when Torres-Benito scored an insurance goal in the 84th minute, assisted by Tatiana Hagan.
Andrea Kenagy picked up the shutout for the Pirates, making three saves in the match.
“It felt like a playoff game,” said head coach Kanyon Anderson.
Anderson was excited about the back end play of his team, and the fact that the Pirates have gone 450 minutes without giving up a goal. And that one goal was on a set piece. Anderson gave credit to Halle Watson, Cindy Vazquez, Toni Powsey and Pi’lani Chaves.
“We’ve given up one goal in our last five games, which is awesome,” Anderson said.
The Pirates, tied for first place in the North Division with Edmonds, have now won five straight, four by shutout, after starting the season 0-2.
Anderson likes this year’s edition of the Pirates. While they may not has as much firepower as some past years offensively, “this year we’re bigger. We’re grittier.”
Peninsula (3-0, 5-2) next plays at Whatcom (2-1, 3-3) on Wednesday. Anderson said another huge game is going to be at home Saturday at noon against Edmonds, possibly for first place in the division on the line.
