College soccer: Peninsula men cycle past Tacoma in NWAC Championship rematch

By Michael Carman • September 17, 2021 1:30 pm
Peninsula defender Chunghwan Lee (15) and Tacoma’s Dylan Chavez look to get a head on the ball in PC’s 2-0 win over Tacoma in Port Angeles on Sept. 15, a rematch of last year’s NWAC title game. Photo by Jay Cline
Peninsula defender Chunghwan Lee (15) and Tacoma’s Dylan Chavez look to get a head on the ball in PC’s 2-0 win over Tacoma in Port Angeles on Sept. 15, a rematch of last year’s NWAC title game. Photo by Jay Cline

An acrobatic early goal from sophomore Nicolas Hernandez and a stoppage- time penalty kick lifted the Peninsula College men to a 2-0 non-league win over Tacoma.

Wednesday’s contest was a rematch of the 2019 NWAC Championship won 3-1 in penalty kicks by the Pirates.

Due to the pandemic, some Peninsula players such as Hernandez remain from that championship winning side.

Hernandez’s early goal came off a loose ball that bounced near him in the goal box.

Dylan Pauw built up the attack, taking the ball up the left edge of the field before his cross to the middle was blocked by a Tacoma defender.

The ball bounced on near Hernandez, who shielded his Tacoma defender and turned in a near bicycle kick to the middle of the goal for a score with high-degree of difficulty.

Tacoma out-shot Peninsula 12-8 for the match, but Pirates goalkeeper Ian Dalton stood tall with four saves, including a challenging deflection in the final 10 minutes to preserve the Peninsula lead.

With the game still up for grabs in stoppage time, Hide Sakamoto was fouled inside the box after intercepting a Titans pass, and the left-footed defender softly tapped in the resulting penalty kick for a 2-0 finish.

Peninsula (2-0-0, 5-0-0) hosts West Region squad Bellevue (1-1-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Women’s game: Peninsula 4, Shoreline 0

North Olympic Peninsula players boosted the Pirate women offensively in a shutout win over the Dolphins.

Port Angeles’ Kyrsten McGuffey led the way with two goals, one coming on an assist by former Roughriders teammate Millie Long, in the win.

McGuffey scored in the first minute of the second half and added her second goal 10 minutes later as the Pirates quickly turned a 1-0 halftime lead into a comfortable win.

Nordland’s Grace Johnson assisted on the first Peninsula goal of the game, a 22nd-minute strike by Kapri McMillan.

Karenza Chavez added the fourth and final goal in the 83rd minute.

Peninsula sophomore Alycia Flora, a team captain and talisman for the squad, saved three second-half shots to earn the shutout in goal.

The Pirates (2-0-0, 3-0-1) visit Whatcom (0-1-1, 1-1-3) at noon Saturday.