PUYALLUP — In an unusual road split of the two teams that’s going to be more common this season, the Peninsula College men’s soccer team went south to beat Pierce 6-0 on Saturday, while the Peninsula College women went north to beat Skagit Valley 4-1 in NWAC league openers.
The North Division men’s teams this season are playing some crossover games against teams from the West Division. These games count in league standings.
The Peninsula men’s game was actually close at the half, with the Pirates holding just a 1-0 lead. The men did outshoot Pierce 12-3 in the first half and forced five first-half saves from the Raiders.
The Pirates kept up the pressure in the second half, breaking through for five goals in a 25-minute span. Kai Beigler had two second-half goals and an assist, while Hayahide Sakamoto, Jonathon DeMotta and Gabriel Kiekenbeck all had goals.
Christopher Dominguez also scored a goal in the fourth minute of the first half on a header off a free kick taken by Tim Deser, who collected an assist.
Goalkeeper Ian Dalton made three saves to earn the shutout.
The Pirates ended up outshooting the Raiders 24-4. The undefeated men have outscored their opponents 13-1 so far this season.
Women’s game
MOUNT VERNON — In the women’s game, Chiaki Takase had a pair of goals, while Chimacum graduate Grace Johnson had a goal and an assist.
This game was also close at the half as the two teams entered the break tied 1-1. The Pirates blew the game open with three goals in the second half, including two goals within a minute of each other by Takase and Johnson in the 72nd and 73rd minutes.
Miya Clarke also had an assist for the Pirates. Musuai Isaia made four saves in goal to pick up the victory.
Both teams had a ton of shots, with the Pirates tallying 16 and the Cardinals 12. The difference was 15 of the Pirates’ shots were on goal, while only five Skagit Valley shots were on goal.
The Skagit goal was the first goal allowed by the women this season. The women have outscored their opponents 15-1 so far this year.
The Pirates (1-0, 4-0) have a schedule change later this week. The men will play Tacoma (0-0, 2-0-1) at Wally Sigmar Field in Port Angeles at 4 p.m. Wednesday. This is a rematch of the 2019 NWAC Championship game that Peninsula won in a shootout.
The Tacoma field is undergoing construction, so the game originally scheduled in Tacoma was moved to Port Angeles.
The women (1-0, 2-0-1) will play at Shoreline (0-1, 0-4-1) on Wednesday.
