VANCOUVER, Wash. — Two early goals from sophomore Caio Maciel were all the Peninsula College men’s soccer team needed to beat Clark on the road.
Maciel scored in the 14th and 22nd minutes as the top-ranked Pirates won a Northwest Athletic Conference nonregion showdown against the third-ranked Penguins 2-1.
Saturday’s victory sets up an important clash between Peninsula (8-0-2, 11-0-2, 26 points) and Highline (8-1-2, 8-2-3, 26 points) that will likely settle the NWAC West Region championship Wednesday at Wally Sigmar Field.
Maciel opened the scoring in Saturday’s match with a goal off a free kick from more than 30 yards out. Eight minutes later, he nailed a penalty kick to put the Pirates ahead 2-0.
Clark (8-0-3, 12-2-3), which sits atop the South Region, cut the lead in half right after halftime with a successful penalty kick by Octavio Hermosillo in the 46th minute.
But that was all the Penguins could get against Peninsula goalkeeper Oscar Torres, who made 10 saves, the most for a Pirates keeper in one game this season.
Maciel leads Peninsula and ranks eighth in the NWAC in scoring with 10 goals and two assists for 22 points.
The Pirates and Thunderbirds kick off at 3 p.m. Wednesday after an equally important duel between the schools’ women’s teams at
1 p.m.
The top-ranked Peninsula women (13-1-0, 15-1-0, 39 points), who were idle Saturday, trail Highline (13-1-1, 15-1-1, 40 points) by one point by virtue of the Thunderbirds so far having played one more region game than the Pirates.
Highline is tied for second with Everett in the most recent NWAC coaches poll.
Each men’s and women’s region champion earns a bye in the first round of the NWAC playoffs and then gets to host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, Nov. 8.
