It’s a twofer for the Peninsula College men’s and women’s soccer teams.

The Peninsula College men joined the women as champions of the Northwest Athletic Conference, beating Clark 3-0 Sunday night at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila. It was also the first back-to-back championship for either Peninsula College soccer team since 2013.

Earlier in the day, the women beat Bellevue 1-0 in the title game.

Men’s tournament MVP Ezrah Ochoa scored a pair of goals, while Nil Grau, coming off a hamstring injury that kept him out of the quarterfinals and limited him in the semifinals, had a goal and an assist.

Ochoa scored in Friday’s 1-0 semifinal win over Walla Walla and also scored a goal in the quarterfinals last Saturday against Tacoma.

Like the women, the men did not allow a goal in the postseason.

Unlike their past two championships, the men made sure the game did not go to penalty kicks. Last year, Peninsula and Highline went a nerve-wracking 11 rounds of penalty kicks before the Pirates were able to pull the game out.

Grau got the Pirates on the board early in the 22nd minute as he got free behind the defense down the middle of the field. He made a perfect shot to the bottom left corner of the goal to make the score 1-0.

Eleven minutes later, Ochoa got his first goal on a corner kick by Edwin Diaz. Ochoa rose well above a crowd of players and hit a perfect header into the goal.

Ochoa scored again in the 56th minute on a sharp-angle shot just inside the box. The Clark goalkeeper got his hands on the ball, but it got through him and into the goal.

Goalkeeper Laurin Lettow made five saves to preserve the shutout and a couple of them late were pretty tough saves. He made a diving stop on a shot in the 77th minute, then had to make another good save in stoppage time after a corner kick.

Women win again

Peninsula’s women’s soccer team, with three of its best players out all of most of the game with injuries, dug deep and held on in the second half for a 1-0 win over Bellevue to win another conference NWAC championship.

The Pirates got the lone goal of the match from a freshman, Rilee Leigh, and it was a beauty. She took a pass from Emma Crystal and kicked a long shot from 35 yards out high and to the far corner. It was much too high for Bellevue’s 5-foot-4 goalkeeper and tucked in just below the crossbar.

It was enough to hold up as the Pirates clamped down on defense. Bellevue had just five shots all game and only two on goal.

The Pirates came into the game without Anna Petty, one of the team’s leading goal-scorers last year and an all-North Region player this year.

Disaster struck when in the 17th minute, their leading goal-scorer this year and North Region MVP Shawna Larson went out with an injury and could not return.

Then early in the second half, they lost another big scorer in Lauren Lases, who was also injured and had to be carried off the field. Those two players combined for 20 goals this season.

The defense did its job, barely allowing any serious threats from Bellevue.

To win the title, Peninsula had to beat Bellevue three times this season. Peninsula never allowed a goal to the Bulldogs, beating them 4-0, 1-0 and 1-0.

Leigh, who didn’t start the game, had just three goals this season, with one in the finals and the other in the semifinals Friday in a 3-0 victory over Spokane.

The win caps off a perfect season for the Pirates (15-0-0) as they finished with no ties and no losses. Peninsula, ranked No. 1 in the NWAC all season and a top-ranked team nationally, had 12 shutouts and outscored its opponents 74-4 this season. The Pirates did not allow a goal in the postseason.

It was Peninsula women’s first championship since 2021 and the Pirates’ sixth title since 2012. They also won in 2012. 2013, 2016, 2018, all with Kanyon Anderson as the head coach.

It was the third championship for head coach Jake Hughes, who led the Pirates’ men’s team to a title in 2019. Peninsula also won in 2015, 2013 and 2012.

The men’s and women’s soccer teams have won 12 championships since 2012. The men’s and women’s teams both won championships in 2012 and 2013, but had not done so since year.