LONGVIEW — The stage is set for a West Division showdown between the Northwest Athletic Conference’s top-ranked Peninsula Pirates and the second-ranked Highline Thunderbirds at Wally Sigmar Field after the Peninsula women defeated Lower Columbia 7-0.
The Pirates continued their defensive dominance with a school-record 15th shutout Wednesday on the road against the Red Devils 7-0.
Peninsula has given up one goal in 16 matches. The next fewest goals allowed in the conference is Everett with six.
“We now can start gearing up for Highline a week from now,” Peninsula coach Kanyon Anderson said after Wednesday’s win.
Next Wednesday’s home match against Highline is expected to determine the West Division championship. The Pirates are 13-1-0 in conference play, two points ahead of Highline, at 12-1-1. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
Against the Lower Columbia women at a small rain-soaked field in Longview, the Pirates found their way to the Red Devil goal seven times.
Lexi Krieger, a freshman from Portland, finished with a hat trick, scoring goals in the fourth, seventh and 54th minutes. Solana Ashe added two goals, and Tasha Inong and Brittney Yoshimura also got in on the fun with one goal apiece.
The assist column for the seven goals read “Yoshimura” and “Rodocker.”
Brittney Yoshimura contributed three assists, her twin sister Brooke Yoshimura had a pair of assists and Paxton Rodocker also offered up two assists.
The score could have been a lot worse, had it not been for Lower Columbia goalkeeper Alexandria Aspinwall, who had a big day with 14 saves.
Peninsula’s freshman keeper Manaia Siania-Unutoa had four saves to earn the shutout, her third of the season.
Sophomore teammates Kasie Lough and Emily Flinn have four have seven and four shutouts, respectively. Peninsula’s other shutout was a combined effort between Lough and Siania-Unutoa.
The Pirates, who handed Highline its only loss of 2014 in a 2-0 match played at Highline on Sept. 29, are idle this weekend and will spend the week resting and rehabbing injured players in preparation for Wednesday’s showdown.
Men face Clark
The Peninsula men (8-0-2, 10-0-2), meanwhile, don’t have as much time to rest.
They travel to Vancouver, Wash., for a showdown with third-ranked Clark College (8-0-3, 12-1-3), the only other unbeaten men’s team in the conference, on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s NWAC championship game, which was won 1-0 by Peninsula.
The Pirates might not be at full strength after injuries to starting goalkeeper Aaron Zavolokin, midfielder Kassio Monteiro and defender Julio Soto.
After that, Peninsula also has a showdown with Highline (7-1-2, 7-2-3) that will likely determine the West Division champion on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Wally Sigmar Field.
The Pirates beat the Thunderbirds 2-1 at Tukwila last month.
