MEN’S SOCCER: Defending champs Pirates ride pair of booming shots to victory

PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s soccer team began its defense if its back-to-back Northwest Athletic Conference titles, quickly bouncing back after giving up a penalty kick goal to win 2-1 at Wally Sigmar Field on Friday.

The game was a battle of two top-10 teams. The Pirates came in to this season ranked No. 1 in a preseason coach’s poll, while Rogue, which won the South Region last year, came in to the match ranked No. 8.

The game was a defensive battle early. While Peninsula had nearly three times as many shots as Rogue — 14 to 5 — neither team managed a goal in the first half.

Early in the second half, Peninsula nearly got a goal on a beautiful crossing pass that beat the Rogue goalkeeper, but a Ospreys defender swooped into the goal mouth and intercepted the pass, kicking the ball well out of danger.

However, just one minute later in the 51st minute, two Pirates combined for a gorgeous goal. Jamie Joyce made a great move to beat a Rogue defender and got the ball to Edwin Diaz, who also made a fantastic move to shed his defender. He fired a powerful left-footed shot from well outside the penalty area for a goal. Joyce was credited with the assist.

Rogue got its goal in the 61st minute when an Ospreys player drew a foul in the penalty area and was awarded a penalty kick, which Rogue converted.

However, the Pirates bounced right back just a minute later, and again it was a long, powerful shot from well outside the penalty area. Issei Fujiwara found freshman Jack Norman all alone on the left side of the field. Norman, starting his first game for the Pirates, crushed a powerful shot from 30 yards out that froze the Rogue goalkeeper, who may have been partially screened by his own players. He reacted much too late to the high shot that sneaked in just under the crossbar.

The Pirates held on for the next 30-plus minutes for the win. Rogue’s best chance for an equalizer came on a dangerous corner kick that Peninsula goalkeeper Max Woithe punched high in the air out of danger.

This was Peninsula’s only nonconference game. The Pirates will play a pair of scrimmages Thursday at The Evergreen State College and at Pacific Lutheran.

The Pirates dive right into North Region play, playing another highly ranked team, No. 7 Skagit Valley at Wally Sigmar Field at 2 p.m. Sept. 10.

The Peninsula College women, also defending champions and ranked No. 1 in the NWAC, played a scrimmage against Seattle Christian this weekend and play another scrimmage against the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C., on Friday in a game expected to be attended by thousands of spectators. That will wrap up Peninsula’s preseason.

The Pirates jump right into North Region play with a game at 4:15 p.m. Sept. 10 against Skagit Valley, which is ranked No. 9 in the NWAC. One of the players for the Cardinals is Port Angeles High School’s Paige Mason.