PORT ANGELES — Another game, another multi-goal victory margin for the Peninsula College women’s soccer team, 6-0 victors this time against second-place Whatcom in a North Division showdown Wednesday at Wally Sigmar Field.
But this win, over an Orcas team ranked sixth in the most recent NWAC women’s soccer coaches poll, was a strong indication the Pirates (4-0-0, 7-0-0) are up for the task of competing for a second-straight NWAC title.
Peninsula weathered an uncharacteristically slow opening 10 minutes as the Orcas controlled possession in the early going.
That was not neccesarily a negative for the Pirates, tied for the top spot with Highline in the NWAC poll. Peninsula hasn’t really been challenged in North Division play, winning its first three games by a combined score of 27-1.
“I thought Whatcom came out and was the aggessor in the first 10 minutes which was cool because it forced us to respond,” Pirates coach Kanyon Anderson said.
“We were not getting to loose balls, so any slight mistake we made in the middle turned into their advantage and any mistake they made we didn’t really capitalize.When we started to commit to the effort it was going to take we were able to get better.”
Peninsula got on the board with a goal in the 14th minute by Sydney Warren, assisted by Malia Brudvik.
A Jordyn DiCintio corner kick was knocked in at the top of the far post for a Kelly Kevershan goal in the 24th minute.
Taylor Graham subbed into the game in the 32nd minute and took no time at all to make her mark, taking a pass from Jayna Morikawa and moving left to right to score past the Whatcom goalie in the 33rd minute.
Janis Martinez-Ortiz then slotted a well-timed pass to Shantel Torres-Benito for Peninsula’s fourth goal of the half.
“I thought the first half was great,” Anderson said. “The goals we scored in the first half were some of the better goals we’ve scored all season because we had to play with a little more urgency. That’s something that we talk about: playing with urgency.”
Whatcom gave us less time on the ball so we had to play sharper and it was nice to see that we could.”
Warren notched a pair of goals in the second half, cleaning up a close-range shot by Kevershan in the 54th minute, and taking a pass from an on-running Bri Duran and beating two Orcas defenders to get off a clean shot in the 64th minute.
Warren’s hat trick pushed her goal-scoring total to nine on the season, tops in the NWAC.
“Sydney was awesome, Janis Martinez-Ortiz was fantastic, she set up our fourth goal with some amazing individual work,” Anderson said. “I thought [defender] Halle Watson was fantastic. She’s a tough kid. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with her.”
Goalkeeper Akari Hoshino was the beneficiary of solid defense, posting a shutout after making one save.
“I would have liked to see us finish a little stronger, but we kept the shutout which was important,” Anderson said. “And really, that’s a good team, they are ranked fifth in the NWAC and that’s a good result. I’d be crazy to not be happy about it.”
Peninsula visits Edmonds (0-4-0, 1-4-0) at noon on Saturday.
