PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula men picked up their third straight win and their second straight shutout with a 4-0 win over South Puget Sound at Wally Sigmar Field, finishing preconference play undefeated.
The Pirates (3-0) were led by Mason Haubrich and Jonathan De Motta, who each had a goal and an assist.
Peninsula peppered the South Puget Sound (0-5) goal with an astounding 30 shots, including 10 shots on goal. The Clippers, who played most of the game shorthanded because of a red card given to a player in the first half, managed just two shots on goal. Peninsula goalkeeper Evan Scholes did not have to make a save.
Hide Inoue, the Pirates’ leading scorer from last season, picked up his second goal of the year in the 16th minute with the assist going to Haubrich.
“I think we got off to a slow start. it took us some time to get into the game. The second half, we were a lot better. We played with higher intensity and quality,” said coach Jake Hughes.
“We’re starting to come together. We have a long way to go. Every day is a learning opportunity,” Hughes said.
He believes that from what he has seen from the team, “if we keep everyone healthy and with luck, by the end of the season, we’ll be pretty decent.”
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead into the half, then they pulled away in the second half with three goals. Haubrich scored early in the second half in the 47th minute with an assist to Edgar Tavares.
Juan Namwali scored his first goal of his career for Peninsula in the 55th minute with an assist to De Motta. De Motta then collected an unassisted goal in the 71st minute.
With Peninsula dominating play in the second half, Hughes said the team “was able to do some things that we’ve been working on in training.”
It was a chippy game with five yellow cards, with the Clippers also collecting a red card, all in the first half. Peninsula collected two of the yellows.
The Pirates begin North Division play at home at 2 p.m. Saturday against Shoreline (1-3). The Pirates finished second in the North last season to Whatcom, which is off to a 1-2 preconference start.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Peninsula’s Chunghwan Lee, center, heads the ball toward the goal while surrounded by South Puget Sound defenders, from left, Sadek Abdulahi, Isaac Garibay and Dakota Seddon during Saturday’s non-conference game in Port Angeles.
