PORT ANGELES — Hide Inoue poured in three first-half goals as the Peninsula College Pirates men’s soccer team unleashed some fury offensively in a 10-0 shellacking of Shoreline on Wednesday night at Wally Sigmar Field.
“We gave them three challenges today: we wanted to get an early goal, we wanted to score off a set piece and we wanted a clean sheet and we got all three today,” head coach Jake Hughes said.
The Pirates showed no ill effects from the drenching weather conditions — pouring on the goals as quickly as the Sigmar Field turf drained the excess precipitation.
“I think they handled [the conditions] great,” Peninsula head coach Jake Hughes said. “They are mature, they understand what we are trying to do and how we are trying to do and are taking positive steps forward in the evolution of their game — which was great to see tonight.”
Goals came early and often from the Pirates — Nico Hernandez netted off an assist by defender Nick Namwali in the 2nd minute and added a second goal seven minutes later assisted by Yuya Yamamoto.
Then Inoue got going — scoring in the 20th, 37th and 38th minutes — all on clean, no-doubt finishes.
Inoue’s play stood out to Hughes.
“Just his ability to find the ball in tight areas and play between the lines,” Hughes said. “He can link up play and he’s deadly in front of the goal, he’s a really top-level player.”
Defender Chunghwan Lee headed in a goal off of a Peninsula corner kick, a treat for one of the Pirates’ hardest-working players.
Jonathan De Motta, Teppei Teramoto, Jonathan Bicknell and Pablo Medina all found the net after halftime as the Peninsula scoring onslaught never let up.
“Nico Hernandez, Mason [Haubrich] — it was a really good team performance today,” Hughes said. “The players who put the ball in the back of the net are those who often get spoken about. But it’s the training that we do everyday, the players who don’t get too play too many minutes, the players who are rotating into the game, those are the players who allow us to get performances like this, and I really felt it was a team performance today.”
The Pirates (9-1-1, 12-1-1) have four NWAC North contests remaining and hold a two-game lead over second-place Whatcom (7-3-1, 8-5-1).
Peninsula’s Nick Namwali, front, cuts of Shoreline’s Luke Enow on Wednesday night in Port Angeles. Looking on are Peninsula’s Kyota Hiate, rear, and Chunghwan Lee, back right. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Peninsula’s Hide Inoue is congratulated by teammate Yuya Yamamoto after Inoue scored a goal in the first half against Shoreline on Wednesday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
