WOMEN’S SOCCER: Peninsula outlasts Highline, on to Sunday’s title match

By Pierre LaBossiere

Peninsula Daily News

TUKWILA — On Thursday night, the Peninsula soccer women went out together to CenturyLink Field to watch arguably one of the greatest Major League Soccer matches ever played, a shootout playoff win by the Portland Timbers over the Seattle Sounders.

On Friday, an inspired Pirates’ squad went out and played arguably their best match of the year to knock off Highline 1-0 in the semifinals of the NWAC Final Four.

That win sets up a championship match with a Pittsburgh feel to it. The Pirates will be facing the Penguins of Clark Community College out of the Vancouver and the NWAC South Division in the championship match at 1:30 p.m. today at Starfire. You can watch that match online at tinyurl.com/NWACtitle.

Four times in the past four years, the Pirates have met the Thunderbirds in the NWAC Final Four. For the third year in a row, the score was 1-0.

And this time, Peninsula got a bit of revenge on Highline, who denied the Pirates an unbeaten season and their second straight NWAC Championship last year in the title game.

“I thought we played really, really hard. We were committed to defense and defensive organization. We were looking for an opportunity to score and pounced when we got it,” said Peninsula coach Kanyon Anderson.

That “pounce” came after a missed call that actually went against the Pirates.

The Pirates withstood a number of near-goals by the Thunderbirds and finally got a goal from Kayla Alcott in the 76th minute after a wild scramble in front of the net that featured a Highline hand ball that was missed by the officials.

“It should’ve been a penalty kick, but I’m glad she didn’t call it,” Anderson said.

The match featured outstanding defensive play from the Pirates’ Halle Watson and goalkeeper Andrea Kenagy, who was kept busy all match. Kenagy was forced to make two outstanding saves in the final 12 minutes to preserve the win.

“[Watson] is awesome, she’s as good of a center back as there is in the league,” said Anderson. He said Kenagy, who didn’t get tested much at times this season (she actually had some games in which she didn’t face a single shot) showed that she is a “really good goalie.”

The Thunderbirds outshot the Pirates 25-6 and forced 12 Kenagy saves, including eight in the second half. It was the first NWAC match the Thunderbirds had lost all year — Highline’s one previous loss was to undefeated El Cerrritos Junior College from California. Peninsula and Highline came into the championship match undefeated in league and last year, they came into the championship match undefeated in league.

Back and forth

Despite the shooting discrepancy, Friday’s match was more even than it appears in a box score. Both teams had some golden opportunities. Highline’s Fiona Dawson actually got a ball past Kenagy in the sixth minute on a dangerous strike, but her shot hit the left post and went just wide.

Peninsula had its opportunity in the 22nd minute when Samanth Oliveira beat a couple of Thunderbird defenders and then beat Highline goalie Savanah Hutchinson with a shot that trickled tantalizingly close to going in but went just wide outside the left post.

Highline’s Rayna Santiago had a point-blank shot at a wide-open net in the 43rd minute with Kenagy out of position, but Peninsula’s Cindy Vasquez made a great play to block it.

In the 57th minute, the Thunderbirds had another close call when Dawson hit the post a second time on a shot on a free kick. Kenagy was also forced to punch out a dangerous cross right in front of the net in the 63rd minute.

All those lost chances came back to haunt Highline when the Pirates put on pressure in the 76th minute. It started with a good outlet pass from Watson, who got the ball to Shantel Torres-Benito, who beat a defender and got the ball into the penalty box.

Torres-Benito passed to striker Taylor Graham, second on the Pirates in goals this year. Graham got off a shot, but it appeared the ball went off a Highline player’s hand, which would have been a penalty shot for Peninsula.

Ironically, the non-call actually helped the Pirates as there was a scramble for the loose ball between Peninsula’s Kayla Alcott and Thunderbird keeper Hutchinson. The two women collided, leaving a loose ball trickling in front of the net. An alert Alcott quickly got back on her feet and she and a Highline defender dove at the ball simultaneously, with Alcott getting there first and knocking in the loose ball.

That wild goal, which was ruled good after a conference by the officials, gave the Pirates their first lead over Highline since they beat the Thunderbirds in the NWAC championship in 2016 (In roughly 260 minutes of soccer between the two teams.).

Peninsula just had to hang on for 14 minutes plus stoppage time but the Thunderbirds didn’t make it easy, with two more golden scoring opportunities. Kenagy made her two best stops of the match in those final minutes.

In the 78th minute, Kenagy had to make a leaping save with an outstretched arm on a long-range shot looked like it had a chance to go in the upper part of the goal. She made an even better save in the 81st minute, diving to stop a point-blank strike from Chloe Lamenzo.

Anderson said the Pirates are taking the mindset that they are the underdog in today’s championship match.

“It’s a different mindset [but] we feel underappreciated. Last year, we were so dominant, maybe people were thinking we’re not as good this year year,” Anderson said.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Pirates. Clark is a defensive powerhouse. The Penguins are another undefeated team in NWAC play (11-0-1 in league, 14-1-1 overall) that has given up just one goal all season in league. Clark has outscored its league opponents 52-1, while Peninsula holds an 81-5 advantage.

The Penguins’ lone loss came against Highline (4-0) in the NWAC Friendlies at the season’s start.

Anderson also pointed out that while Clark has an extremely stingy defense, so do the Pirates. Peninsula has only give up three goals in its last 12 games and has gone 270 minutes without giving up a goal, including 180 postseason minutes.