NWAC Final Four
When: Nov. 14-15
Where: Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila
Teams: Peninsula, Highline, Shoreline, Spokane
Schedule: Nov. 14 — 10:30 a.m., Shoreline vs. Spokane; 1 p.m. Highline vs. Peninsula. Nov. 15 — 3 p.m., championship
On the web: www.nwacsports.org/soccer/championship.php
It took about 105 minutes for Peninsula’s Pirates to break through North Idaho’s stout defense and move on the semifinals.
Myu Ban’s free kick late in the second overtime period looked to break a scoreless tie and teammate Ellie Small’s rebound putback ensured the “golden goal” as the Pirates knocked off the visiting Cardinals on Saturday, sending PC to the conference finals for the fifth time in as many seasons.
There, the Pirates will look to knock off Highline — a familiar foe from years in the West Division before Peninsula migrated to the North this year — in an NWAC semifinal on Nov. 14 in Tukwila.
The winner of that match lines up against either Shoreline or Spokane in the NWAC title game at 3 p.m. on Nov. 15.
Peninsula is familiar with the NWAC Final Four, held each year at Tukwila’s Starfire Sports Complex. The Pirates were crowned conference champs in 2012 and 2013, and were runner-ups in 2011 and last season.
“I’m starting to appreciate the enormity of it,” Peninsula coach Kanyon Anderson said.
On Saturday, they needed all of regulation and nearly all of the second overtime to earn their Final Four ticket against a defensive-minded North Idaho club.
“Defensively, they were really organized,” Anderson said. “It seemed like their strategy was to not give up a goal. They did a great job of limiting our opportunities. (Also), the weather conditions made it difficult to build up an attack.”
Peninsula managed just two official shots on goal as they worked to penetrate the Cardinal defense for 90 minutes and the first 10-minute overtime; North Idaho had four shots on goal.
“The shot count (disparity) is a little misleading; they would let them fly from a long ways away,” Anderson said. “Honestly, I felt we played a little not to lose.”
Finally, with five minutes to play before the second overtime ended — and triggering a penalty kick shootout — Peninsula earned a free kick deep in Cardinal territory, just left of the penalty box.
Anderson called for Ban, a freshman midfielder from Japan, to take the kick.
“Myu doesn’t hit all of those for us but it seems like she’s very accurate with her placement with the ball,” Anderson said. “It seemed like she could find a gap or an angle. Obviously, she did.”
Ban rifled a shot that looked to pass the goal line as North Idaho keeper Cassandra van der Mey tried to block it. The ball was briefly cleared, but PC’s Small, a freshman forward from Reno, Nev., knocked it back in and Peninsula players erupted from the bench.
“Ellie was right there to make sure the referee didn’t make a mistake,” Anderson noted.
Peninsula moves on to tackle Highline, a perennial playoff squad that finished second to PC in the North Division last season and edged Bellevue for the West Division crown this season.
“At this stage anything can happen,” Anderson said. “The weather’s supposed to be nasty and that field is fast.”
While that may keep the scoring low, the PC coach said that may not be such a disadvantage for top-ranked Peninsula, who led the conference with 86 goals.
Highline advanced to the Final Four with a 2-0 home win Saturday against Clark.
Spokane edged PC rival Everett with a 3-2 home win on Saturday. They’ll take on a Shoreline that’s won two playoff games in 2015, both on penalty kicks.
