TUKWILA – The Pirate ship remained on course for a pair of West Division championships following Peninsula College’s first major battles of the season.
The Northwest Athletic Conference’s top-ranked Peninsula men remained unbeaten with a thrilling 2-1 win over sixth-ranked Highline, and the No. 3 Peninsula women dropped top-ranked and previously unbeaten Highline 2-0.
Both matches were played Monday at Starfire Sports Complex, the site of the NWAC Championships, where the Pirate men and women have each won back-to-back titles.
The Peninsula men improved to 9-0 on the season and 7-0 in conference play and lead the West Division with 21 points, followed by Highline at 5-1-2 with 17 points and Bellevue at 4-4-0 with 12.
The Pirates and North Idaho remain the only unbeaten teams in NWAC soccer. NIC is 8-0-1 on the season and 6-0-1 in East Division play in its first year in the NWAC after departing the National Junior College Athletic Association last year.
The Peninsula women, meanwhile, continued their defensive dominance with their 10th shutout in 11 matches. The Pirates have allowed only one goal in 2014, and that score resulted in their only loss.
Peninsula improved to 10-1-0 overall and 8-1-0 in conference play, and still trails Highline with 24 points.
The Thunderbirds, who have played one more game than the Pirates, are 10-1-1 overall and 8-1-1 in league play, and remain atop the division with 25 points. Bellevue, at 4-2-6 and 3-2-5, is third with 14 points.
The Pirates see their next action Friday when the women travel to play the Bulldogs at 2 p.m. at Bellevue, while the Peninsula men host the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. at Wally Sigmar Field.
Both Peninsula College teams remain ranked in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Junior College Division I poll, the women at No. 8 and the men at No. 9.
Women’s Game
Peninsula 2, Highline 0
All eyes were on Monday’s only scheduled NWAC women’s soccer match in which top-ranked Highline was on its home field against the third-ranked Pirates for one of the top matchups of the year.
The first half ended scoreless with Highline providing the most serious threat to score, a point blank shot on Peninsula goalkeeper Emily Flinn, who used one hand to fend off the ball and keep the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard.
Just one minute into the second half, Alyssa Bertuleit was clipped in the box and the Pirates were awarded a penalty kick.
Sophomore Brittney Yoshimura went left with her penalty kick and ball hugged the post and found the back of the net, just past Amber Nielsen’s outstretched finger tips for the first goal of the match.
At the 70-minute mark, Peninsula came up with an insurance goal.
Larkyn Nelson took the ball into the box, stopped and reversed her dribble, picking her way around Highline defenders until she found a seam. She blasted the ball in the left corner for her fourth goal of the season.
Highline continued to pressure the Pirates, but Flinn came up with another save on a short-range one-on-one in the box to earn her third shutout in three starts. She finished with five saves in the match.
Men’s Game
Peninsula 2, Highline 1
A light rain was falling throughout the men’s match but the Pirates managed to reign supreme over the athletic and energized Thunderbirds, who were playing in front of a small home crowd at Starfire.
Peninsula struck early, scoring in the 16th minute when Dylan Clark sent a free kick into the box that was settled by Eddie Benito and fed to Micah Weller for his second goal as a Pirate.
That 1-0 score stood through halftime, but Highline came up with the equalizer in the 53rd minute, when Alex Lewis made good on a rebound off the chest of Pirate keeper Aaron Zavolokin.
The Pirates, however, answered just two minutes later when Benito got his head to a ball in the box and directed it into the net before being mauled by Highline goalkeeper Greyson Raffensperger. It was Benito’s third goal of the season.
That 2-1 lead held up through a very tense final 35 minutes of regulation play, and four minutes of stoppage time, despite the Pirates committing numerous fouls down the stretch and allowing Highline numerous opportunities to score, including a header that just missed the far post as time expired.
Zavolokin, who was roughed up and the victim of three Highline fouls in the box, managed six saves to preserve the victory.
