PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College will induct four historic soccer teams and longtime basketball supporter Bill Peterson into its Pirate Hall of Fame on Sept. 25.
The Pirate Hall of Fame event, originally scheduled for spring 2020, was postponed due to the pandemic. It will take place at 6 p.m. at a venue yet to be determined.
2012 champs
The 2012 and 2013 Pirate women’s and men’s soccer teams are the only teams in Northwest Athletic Conference soccer history to win back-to-back championships, sweeping the four trophies.
“That was an incredible period in Peninsula College sports history and very deserving of a place in our Pirate Hall of Fame,” said Rick Ross, associate dean for athletics and student life. “We’ve been waiting for an appropriate period of time to pass to induct them. It’s going to be quite a party.”
Those four teams produced 99 wins, lost only four and tied five. They outscored their opponents 361-51.
Peninsula’s Dominique Niedziela, left, dribbles past Southwestern Oregon’s Milli Sevy iin a 2013 match in Port Angeles. The NWAC-champion 2012 and 2013 Pirate men’s and women’s soccer teams will be inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame along with longtime basketball scorekeeper Bill Peterson on Sept. 25. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
The 2012 Pirate women’s team went 22-1-1, pouring in 114 goals and allowing just 13. The Pirates were led by Bri Afoa, who scored 23 goals and added nine assists. She was joined in the offensive onslaught by Kendra Miner with 12 goals and six assists, Jordan Dinneen with seven goals and 14 assists, Morgan Atchley with 10 goals and four assists, Ashlyn Crossan with seven goals and seven assists, Irene Jones with nine goals and three assists and Brianna Estrellado with seven goals and five assists. Goalkeeper Denae Brooks and Laura Morgan combined for 13 shutouts.
Head coach Kanyon Anderson’s Pirate women’s team defeated Spokane in the 2012 championship for the first-ever Peninsula College women’s title in any sport, and then two hours later, celebrated with the men’s team after the Pirate men beat Walla Walla.
That 2012 Pirate men’s team had gone 18-1-2, scoring 75 goals, allowing just 13. Head coach Andrew Chapman won his second NWAC title, his first coming in 2010, and his Pirates were led by Alex Martinez with 21 goals and 13 assists, Daniel Gonzalez with 17 goals and eight assists, Henrique Noujeimi with 15 goals and two assists and Eric Urzua with six goals and 10 assists. Goal keeper Guilherme Avelar recorded 11 of the Pirates’ 12 shutouts.
Back to back
The 2013 women posted a 20-2-0 record, both losses to four-year colleges, with 89 goals and only 13 against. Afoa sealed her place as one of Peninsula’s all-time leading scorers with 22 goals and 10 assists; Bronte Fitzsimmons added 11 goals and 23 assists; Shelbi Vienna-Hallam added eight goals and three assists; Larkyn Nelson had seven goals and three assists; Brenda Torres five goals and seven assists and Mary Pierce seven goals and two assists. Emily Flinn and Kasie Lough combined for 13 shutouts.
And, for the second year in a row, coach Anderson’s Pirate women hoisted the NWAC championship trophy following a win over Edmonds, and then joined their men’s team on a chilly night at Starfire Sports Complex, celebrating their victory over Clark.
The 2013 men’s team posted the first unbeaten record in Pirate soccer history, going 21-0-2, scoring 83 goals and allowing just a dozen.
That team too was led by Martinez, who scored a jaw-dropping 28 goals with 10 assists. His 49 total goals tied him with Miguel Gonzalez, who helped Peninsula win a title in 2010, with the most career goals in PC men’s history.
Ash Apollon, who, like Miguel and Daniel Gonzalez, has played professionally since his time at PC, added a well-rounded 16 goals and 15 assists, and the Pirates had three players who also put the ball in the net regularly: Kalei Gallarde (eight goals, seven assists), Urzua (six goals, 11 assists) and Christian Martinez (eight goals, six assists). Goalkeeper Angel Guerra had all 12 of PC’s shutouts.
Head women’s coach Anderson credited the 2012 and 2013 teams with launching Pirate women’s soccer as the dominant program in the NWAC, now with three NWAC titles, four runner-up finishes and nine straight league titles.
“The 2012 and 2013 squads were really the start of the amazing tradition at Peninsula,” Anderson said. “Both teams were physically and mentally tough. In addition to the success of both teams on the field, everyone bought into the concept of ‘Strength Through Unity,’ and it really felt like we were never going to lose, and we rarely did. What a fun and surreal time that was.”
Chapman, who built the men’s program into a winner in his 10-year stint at Peninsula from 2003-2013, called the back-to-back champions “remarkable.”
“What these players did in 2012 and 2013 was beyond remarkable,” he said. “These players worked so hard. The 2013 sophomores posted a record that is just unheard of. Not only did the players get it done, but our coaching staff with Tim Tucker and Omar Anderson put in so many hours to make sure everyone had what they needed to be successful.”
Bill Peterson
Port Angeles’s Bill Peterson contributed 21 years to Pirate basketball, providing a professional anchor to the scorer’s table as the official scorer.
“Having someone who had been a player, a coach and a long-time official, and someone with Bill’s professionalism, attention to detail and communication skills, gave us arguably the finest scorekeeper in the NWAC,” Ross said. “Officials and opposing coaches really took comfort coming into our gym and seeing Bill, in the striped shirt, sitting behind the scorebook. From the opening tip to the end of the game, you could expect an accurate account of the points, fouls, etc. We’d be tearing down after a game, and Bill would still be here, tallying it all up and conferring with the stat keepers to be sure their numbers were accurate. In short, he was a pro.”
Peterson was at the table for Peninsula’s first home game in 1997, the year basketball returned to the college, after negotiating the volunteer position with the late Jim Lunt, who served as athletic director when Peninsula College resurrected its sports program. Lunt then negotiated with Peterson’s boss, former Port Angeles Parks & Rec director Scott Brodhun, to allow him to leave work early for Wednesday home games — and the marriage was complete.
That volunteer gig lasted 21 years before Peterson hung up his pencil following the 2017-18 season.
“He never missed a game,” Ross said. “He had a streak that lasted 19 or 20 years before he finally had a health issue that slowed him down. I can’t think of too many people who have that level of dedication for a volunteer job, but we have been fortunate to have two of those people here at Peninsula, and I’m thrilled that Bill will join Kent Brauninger, our scoreboard operator going back to 1968, in our Hall of Fame.”
