PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s soccer team earned new head coach Cale Rodriguez his first collegiate victory while exacting some revenge in a 3-1 victory over North Idaho.
Peninsula (1-1-1) controlled Saturday’s game at Wally Sigmar Field, keeping the ball away from the Cardinals, who eliminated the Pirates in the Northwest Athletic Conference quarterfinals last season.
Peninsula found the net for three first-half goals to take much of the drama out of the game early, and also stayed composed on defense when the North Idaho offense presented challenges in an attempt to chip away at the lead.
“It feels good, obviously, to get the first win and to play our first home game and get the victory as well, so there are a lot of positive things to take away from this,” Rodriguez said.
“But still a lot of things to clean up and fix, but we will build on this and try to get better.”
Sophomore forward David Joyce made an early impact with a goal in the 13th minute for the Pirates.
Joyce took the ball near midfield, raced down the left sideline and past his man to finish the run with a short strike to the lower-right corner of the goal.
Eleven minutes later, Peninsula striker Keo Ponce pounced on a lazy clearance pass in the goal box then stepped up and sent a point-blank ball past the North Idaho goalkeeper for a 2-0 advantage.
“The guys came out with good energy,” Rodriguez said.
“This was an important game for us to make a statement, and they responded well.
“Some guys were out due to some injuries and some red cards, and some guys stepped up and demonstrated that they deserve some more opportunities, so that was obviously good to see guys stepping into those roles and making positive impacts.”
Rodriguez said freshman midfielders Salvador Vargas and Steven Moreno were examples of those who upped their games and “obviously David Joyce took advantage of his opportunity today.”
Joyce and Ponce teamed on the game’s most technically sound moment in the 32nd minute.
Joyce sent a long, looping, right-to-left cross onto the foot of Ponce in the Cardinals’ goal box. Ponce slammed home the attempt for his second goal.
“He’s a good player, very talented, and he’s got a knack for finding pockets of space and moving in behind,” Rodriguez said of Ponce.
“And hopefully the two goals today build some confidence in him, because I think that’s exactly what he needed right now.
Rodriguez also had praise for the defensive back line of Santi Serra, Demar Stewart and Jose Soto. The trio nearly helped Peninsula to a shutout, with the Cardinals only breaking through for a goal in the 87th minute by Kade Murphree.
“The back three was quite good today,” Rodriguez said.
“They were tough to beat one-on-one, tough to beat in the air, controlled the game physically and made effective pushes up the field on offense.”
The Pirates host Bellevue on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
