PENINSULA SOCCER: Women win playoff opener, but men fall short in shootout

PORT ANGELES — In a tension-filled game that had a bit of everything — horrendous weather, a flurry of yellow cards, a rash of injuries, pushing and shoving, myriad close calls, overtime, added penalty kicks and ultimately heartbreak for the home team — the Peninsula soccer men were upset by Tacoma at Sigmar Field 3-2 in a nerve-wracking NWAC quarterfinals loss that came down to the cruelty of penalty kicks.

The Titans (12-2-5 overall) won the penalty kick phase 4-3 to advance to the NWAC semifinals. After the game, several members of the Pirates were visibly distraught after such a hard-fought defeat. Peninsula (16-1-2) came into the game undefeated in the NWAC and ranked No. 1 in the league. But, the Titans used a physical style and a ball possession game to neutralize the Pirates’ high-octane offense, which never seemed to find a consistent rhythm all game.

The game was a stark contrast to the elation of the Peninsula women, who won their match earlier in the day to move on to the NWAC semifinals, beating Walla Walla 5-0. The women, undefeated in league and also ranked No. 1 in the NWAC, will now go on to Starfire soccer complex in Tukwila to play in the NWAC Final Four at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against North Idaho.

The men’s game nearly never went to penalty kicks as the Pirates had a couple of near scores in overtime. A header by Jose Soto in which Soto was actually injured beat the Tacoma goalie and trickled tantalizingly close to rolling through the goal mouth to end the game, but the ball went wide by a yard or two.

The two teams combined for 19 shots, forcing 11 saves by the teams’ goalies.

“Not one team beat us in 90 minutes all season long,” said Pirates coach Cale Rodriguez.

“This wasn’t about the trophy, this is about preparing for what’s ahead. To be a champion, you have to be lucky [but] I don’t want to say we were unlucky,” Rodriguez said. “We had the lead twice. We did a poor job of managing the lead.”

Rodriguez said Tacoma deserved a lot of credit for the win. The Titans were a physical team that led to a total of eight yellow cards, five against Peninsula.

The game was played in fog, drizzle and at times, torrential downpours.

The physical tone was set in the first 15 minutes of the match when it appeared that Cesar Gervacio was elbowed in the head and shoulder in the penalty area, but no foul was called. Peninsula was first to break through in the 24th minute when, off a Tacoma free kick, Alex Ramos stole the ball, moved quickly downfield, passed the ball to Michael Day who passed it back to Ramos for a spectacular goal to make it 1-0.

Tacoma tied the game quickly in the second half, scoring in the 47th minutes. Rodriguez said this goal was a “game changer” because for much of the second half, the Titans dominated possession and controlled the action. For the next 20 minutes, the Titans’ pressure was relentless, with several close calls and near goals.

Finally, the Pirates struck back with another beautiful goal by Juan Carrillo with an assist to Ramos in the 73rd minute. But, just five minutes later, the Titans knotted it back up at 2-2, which made for a furious final 30 minutes of regulation and overtime.

Peninsula goalie Brannon Dwyer was injured in the second half, but backup Sergio Uribe came in and made on spectacular diving save on what appeared to be a sure Tacoma goal.

In the first overtime, which was a sudden death, Day and Soto also were injured, both on the same play in the final minutes which Day’s header barely trickled past the post. Another header by Gervacio just went high over the crossbar.

Finally, the game went to penalty kicks in the late afternoon gloom, with both teams having the advantage at times. The Titans’ Evan Munn blocked shots by Soto and Joey Hollimon and Tacoma took a 2-1 lead in penalty kicks. Then, Pirates’ keeper Dwyer, who was able to return to action, made a spectacular stop of his own and Peninsula was able to take a 3-2 lead after goals by Jason Ramos and Marlon Nava. Just one more block or miss and Peninsula would have won the match, but Tacoma was able to tie it at 3-3, as Dwyer got a hand on the ball, but couldn’t keep it out.

The match went into extra penalty kicks, and Tacoma won it in the next round as the Titans scored and Munn was able to stop a kick from Miguel Valderrama.

Tacoma will go on to play Pierce in the NWAC Final Four Saturday.

Women Peninsula 5, Walla Walla 0

The Peninsula women easily handled Walla Walla thanks to one amazing save and a stifling defense that didn’t allow the Warriors any more chances.

Coach Kanyon Anderson said the week off that the team earned with a first-round bye perhaps hurt and helped his players.

“With a bye, your legs are fresher in the last 1o minutes, but in the first 10 minutes, the legs are more nervous,” he said.

In just the fourth minute, Pirates’ goalkeep Akari Hoshino, who doesn’t always get a lot of work because the Pirates’ defense is so good, made a diving stop on what appeared to be a sure goal to help fire up Peninsula. That set a tone for Walla Walla that there would be no easy goals on this day.

“That was a huge save early. [A Walla Walla goal] could have tipped the game,” said Anderson.

A few minutes later in the 11th minute, Maddy Parton, who had an assist later in the match, scored on an assist from Kennady Whitehead to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Pirates’ leading scorer Hoku Afong added a second goal in the 34th minute. Ellie Small scored in the 45th minute, assisted by Kelly Kevershan as the Pirates went into the break ahead 3-0.

Sydney Warren scored in the 54th minute, with Parton picking up the assist. Sarah Rieber added a pretty unassisted goal in the 89th minute, kicking a loose ball in midair from nearly 30 yards out for a goal.

Anderson called this a “spectacular goal.”

“That was a little icing on the cake,” he said.

Defender Audrey Barham said this game was typical of the Pirates’ play all season, with five players scoring five goals. The Pirates are leading the NWAC in scoring, but only have one individual scorer in the top 10 of the league (Afong, who is sixth in scoring and fifth in goals).

“We play with our heart. We just play for each other and don’t get selfish in front of the net. Whatever it takes to put it in the net, we do,” she said.

The women will play North Idaho (14-2-3) Saturday. Anderson said one thing the Pirates know about North Idaho is that the Cardinals don’t give up many goals. In fact, North Idaho has only allowed 13 goals in 19 games this season.