TUKWILA — The Peninsula College men’s and women’s soccer teams opened their seasons on solid footing with a pair of shutout victories at the NWAC Soccer Friendlies in Tukwila on Wednesday.
The season-opening tournament is held at the site of November’s NWAC Championships and typically matches division champs from the previous season with division runner-ups.
Nordland’s Grace Johnson scored within the first two minutes and added two more goals by the 27th minute to complete the hat trick as the Pirate women shot past Chemeketa 11-0.
“She’s really been playing well for us, and she’s scored a lot of goals, but that was her first college-level hat trick,” head coach Kanyon Anderson said.
Carissa Miller added two goals; Jayden Brown posted a pair of goals; Allysun Gerke also notched two scores; and Malia Miller had two assists and found the net in her Pirates debut.
Other scorers included Mackenzie Corkill with Miya Clark adding one of her two assists on the play.
Anderson said the entire roster saw playing time, including Port Angeles’ Millie Long, who had a shot on goal in her debut.
“We played every single player on the roster, 34 players, which is crazy,” Anderson said. “We subbed the whole team out twice, 11 players at a time along the sideline, and we didn’t score on them after the 58th minute.”
Briana Andrade, a Peninsula standout in 2014-15, is serving as an assistant for Chemeketa.
The Pirates (1-0) faced Columbia Basin, coached by former Peninsula assistant Omar Anderson, late Thursday.
Men blank Lane
In the men’s contest, Jonathon De Motta found the net just before halftime to lift the Pirates, and Hide Sakamoto added a goal in the 54th minute in Peninsula’s 2-0 win over Lane.
“We dominated the first half. An area of improvement is putting the ball in the back of the net because we should have been up two or three goals at the half,” Pirates coach Jake Hughes said.
“But we played at high tempo against a good team in Lane, who will compete for the South Division, so in that context I’m pleased with how we showed up.”
Ian Dalton earned the shutout in goal with three saves.
“Our whole midfield group defended really well,” Hughes said. “A lot of our defending was high up in our opponent’s half; we made it difficult for them to play through.”
The Pirates (1-0) faced Spokane late Thursday.
Peninsula’s Jonathon De Motta, middle, prepares to shoot while being covered by a pair of Lane defenders during the Pirates’ season-opening 2-0 win Wednesday at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. (Rick Ross/Peninsula College Athletics)
