PORT ANGELES — Late-game heroics by Whatcom had the Peninsula College women’s soccer team breathing a big sigh of relief after a close win over the Orcas on Wednesday.
Whatcom provided by far the biggest threat to break the women’s 17-game winning streak this season, scoring two late goals to put a scare into the Pirates in Peninsula’s 3-2 win.
It was the first one-goal game of the year for the Pirates, who have dominated most of their opponents in cruising to a North Division title and a No. 1 ranking in the Northwest Conference.
Played poorly
Whatcom is a solid team that has an 11-5-1 overall record, but after the game, coach Kanyon Anderson wasn’t happy with how his team played.
“That was a good team, that was a playoff team. [But] we were awful. I don’t think we played well at all,” Anderson said. Anderson specifically pointed out that his team dominated possession, but only got off 14 shots.
Anderson said he didn’t want to make excuses, but he was trying different combinations of players at different positions to account for any scenarios that might come up in the playoffs.
“We have to do better, we have to focus. For us, the playoffs can’t come soon enough,” he said.
It’s a sign of how strong the program is and how high the standards are when players and coaches aren’t happy after the team won its 35th straight game dating back to 2016.
It appeared the Pirates were cruising to another easy win they took a 3-0 lead into halftime. Sydney Warren scored her NWAC-leading 28th goal in the sixth minute with an assist coming from NWAC assists leader (26) Jordyn DiCintio. Brianna Duran scored in the the 10th minute on an assist from Warren and Jayna Morikawa scored on a free kick from Malia Brudvik in stoppage time right at the end of the first half to make it 3-0.
The Pirate women completely dominated possession all during the second half, but couldn’t manage to score any further goals. Payton Lunde scored a goal for Whatcom in the 80th minute, putting the ball just over the outstretched arms of Pirates keeper Akari Hoshino to make it 3-1.
Whatcom stunned Peninsula with another quick goal less than two minutes later on a goal from Kylie Clark.
For the next 10 minutes, the Pirate women had to play to preserve a one-goal lead. Whatcom’s second goal seemed to give Peninsula a sense of urgency as the Pirates kept the Orcas from any more serious scoring chances after that.
In the end, it’s a win and the winning streak continues. The Pirate women wrap up their regular season against Edmonds at noon Saturday and then regroup for a home playoff game Saturday, Nov. 4.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
