Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula Pirates women’s soccer team will get a 8:25 a.m. sendoff today at the college before traveling to Tukwila to train at the Starfire Sports Complex in preparation for Friday’s 12:30 p.m. Northwest Athletic Conference semifinal match against Tacoma.
This year marks the seventh straight league championship for the Pirates and the seventh straight trip to the NWAC Final Four.
The defending NWAC champions and top-ranked team in the conference is not taking Tacoma lightly, however, despite a 9-0 win over the Titans back on Aug. 29.
“Tacoma is a tough match-up,” said head coach Kanyon Anderson, who was recently named the North Region Co-Coach of the Year. “They have had some great results this season and it took a great effort to go to Walla Walla and knock off an unbeaten team. We had a good result against TCC early in the year, but we realize that that game has very little to do with the upcoming game.”
The Pirates, who finished 15-0 in league play and 19-0 overall this year, are riding a 37-match winning streak that dates back to a Sept. 9, 2016 tie with Spokane. It’s the longest junior college win streak in the country.
Tacoma, meanwhile, played in the shadow of second-ranked Highline in the West Region all season, finishing second with a 10-2-2 record, 15-5-2 overall. The sixth-ranked Titans then shut out Clackamas 1-0 in the first round of the NWAC playoffs before upsetting Walla Walla 3-2 in the quarterfinals. The Warriors were the East Region champions and tied with Highline for the No. 2 ranking in the NWAC.
“We are feeling good about where we are physically and mentally,” Anderson said. “Soccer is a difficult game to predict, but we feel we have done all we can to maximize our chances of playing well.”
The NWAC semifinals has Peninsula squaring off against Tacoma at 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Starfire Sports Complex, followed by Highline vs. Clark at 3 p.m. The winners advance to play in Sunday’s 2:30 NWAC Championship, also at Starfire. The All-Star members of the teams that fall in the semifinals will participate in the NWAC All-Star Game at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
Fans going to Starfire this weekend will pay $5 for parking and a one-day adult pass is $15.
