PORT ANGELES — The Pirates have built up quite a rivalry with the Whatcom Orcas.
And after Saturday’s match, so far this season, they’re pretty much dead-even. But don’t be surprised if they meet again in the postseason.
With both teams preparing for the playoffs — the Pirates clinched a hard-fought North Division championship last week with a win and an Orcas loss — the squads played the rubber match to prepare for the playoffs and for bragging rights.
After Saturday’s 3-3 tie, the teams finished 1-1-1 against each other this season — Peninsula beat Whatcom 4-1 early in the season, while the Orcas won 1-0 at their home earlier this month.
Whatcom won the North Division in 2017 and 2018. This year, the Pirates wrested the division title away from the Orcas.
Peninsula won the division in 2015 and 2016 with Whatcom in second place both years. So, the two teams have been 1-2 in the North every year since 2015 — and the Orcas still have a chance for second this year.
Peninsula coach Jake Hughes pointed out that the Pirates had a huge shot advantage, but that the Orcas’ shots just found a way to get in.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Peninsula’s Pablo Medina, left, angles a header away from the defense of Whatcom’s Thomas Watson on Saturday in Port Angeles.
“They had three goals on five shots, we had 14 or 15. You take your chances when they come,” he said.
Peninsula did have several close calls on shots as the Pirates did an outstanding job on set pieces. Hide Inoue added to his NWAC-leading goal total with a hat trick, scoring two out of his three goals on set pieces from Yuya Yamamoto, though Yamamoto only got credit for one assist. The Pirates nearly scored another two or three goals on set pieces, but solid headers went just high or wide.
“In the grand scheme of things, it was a good result,” Hughes said. “We got people in reserve and we’re trying to get ready for the postseason.”
The Pirates were up 3-1, but the Orcas, who got back into the playoff hunt after a 2-3-1 start to their league season, showed they are a dangerous team with two quick second-half goals to force a draw.
Inoue got his first goal of the match in the seventh minute on a perfect free kick from Yamamoto.
Next came one of the Pirates’ lost opportunities for a goal. Pablo Medina stole the ball and found himself one-on-one with Whatcom keeper Michael Herrera, and Herrera was able to get his fingertips on Medina’s shot as the ball trickled inches wide of the post. Peninsula got another shot off the deflection, but it was stopped by an Orcas’ defender as Herrera was still down on the ground.
In the 38th minute, the Pirates made it 2-0 on a corner kick by Yamamoto. The ball banged around on a scramble in front of the net and Inoue got his boot on it for a goal.
Medina, who was active all match, had another near miss on a pass from Mason Haubrich that he headed, but just missed the net in the 41st minute. Medina just missed another goal on another head just before the end of the half.
Whatcom picked up a goal in the 43rd minute on a rocket by Edson Andrade past the Pirates’ keeper Evan Scholes.
Inoue immediately picked up his hat trick early in the second half after a perfect pass from Haubrich on the left wing that Inoue tapped in for his 16th goal and 34th point of the season, both tops in the entire NWAC.
Whatcom had some chances as the Pirates’ Chungwan Lee blocked a shot on a wide open net and Scholes made a diving stop on another shot.
It looked at first as if Scholes stopped a shot from the Orcas’ Kevin Giessler that banked off the post in the 69th minute, but the referee ruled that the ball crossed the goal-line, making the score 3-2.
The Orcas’ equalizer in the 79th minute stunned the Pirates and their fans it happened so fast. The Pirates’ Jonathan de Motta had a point-blank shot that Herrera was able to stop. Herrera got the ball quickly upfield as the Orcas counter-attacked and got a shot off for a goal just seconds after de Motta’s shot.
“There was a lapse of concentration there in transition,” Hughes said of that goal.
The Pirates (11-1-2, 14-1-2) have a tough road match Wednesday against second-place Everett (9-4-1, 12-4-3) as the Trojans try to lock up their playoff position (Whatcom could still finish second with an Everett loss).
Then, Peninsula returns home on Nov. 9 to host a quarterfinals match at Wally Sigmar Field as the Pirates try to get back to the NWAC’s Final Four for the first time since 2015.
