PORT ANGELES — Playing on the road against Peninsula College’s soccer teams is tough enough when the trip over goes smooth, so the last thing the Bellevue Bulldogs needed was for the Hood Canal Bridge to shut down for several hours.
A mechanical failure on the bridge forced Bellevue’s men’s and women’s teams to re-route around the canal Wednesday, which resulted in hour-to-hour match time changes and a site change for the men’s match.
When they finally arrived in Port Angeles, the Bulldogs were rewarded for their efforts with a pair of losses.
In the Peninsula teams’ final nonconference matches, the women shut out Bellevue 3-0 at Wally Sigmar Field, while the men won 3-1 at Civic Field.
Both Bellevue teams were unbeaten coming into the doubleheader.
The Peninsula women, ranked No. 7 in the latest National Soccer Coaches of America Division I Junior College poll, finished their nonconference schedule with a 5-0 record, scoring 24 goals and giving up none.
The Pirate men wrapped up new head coach Cale Rodriguez’s first nonconference campaign with a 2-1-1 record, earning two straight wins over playoff-caliber teams. They scored eight goals and allowed five.
The Peninsula teams open their first season in the Northwest Athletic Conference’s North Division on Saturday at Shoreline.
The Pirate men previously played in the West Division since 2000, and the women joined them in 2010.
The Dolphins’ women’s team is 2-1-1, and the men are 0-0-3.
Kickoff at Twin Ponds Field in Shoreline is 12:30 p.m. for the women and 2:30 p.m. for the men.
Women’s Match
Peninsula 3,
Bellevue 0
The Bulldogs, who had been cooped up in a van since
10:30 a.m., finally arrived in Port Angeles on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., and the match kicked off at 5:20 before a small sun-drenched crowd.
The Pirates opened the scoring on a goal by Lexi Krieger in the 14th minute. It was her NWAC-leading seventh of the season. Ellie Small provided
the assist.
That score stood for the next 51 minutes until Tasha Inong took the ball up the left middle and blasted it past Bellevue keeper Catie Getzendaner for an unassisted goal to make it 2-0 with 25 minutes remaining.
Inong then struck again just three minutes later off an assist by Myu Ban for an insurance tally that put the match out of reach. It was Inong’s fourth goal of the season.
Men’s Match
Pirates 3, Bellevue 1
With help from the Port Angeles Parks and Recreation Department, the men’s match was moved to Civic Field where it could be played under lights.
Peninsula’s Athletic Department loaded up equipment and made the quick move between matches, and the two men’s teams kicked off at 7:30 p.m.
The Pirates scored twice before Bellevue head coach David O’Neill arrived.
Peninsula’s David Joyce picked up his second goal of the season in the seventh minute, to the delight of the Pirates fans who set up chairs on the west sideline.
Steven Moreno then scored his first collegiate goal just two minutes later, assisted by Joyce.
O’Neill, who was participating in the Seattle teacher’s strike and also got caught in traffic caused by the Hood Canal Bridge shutdown, arrived to find his team in trouble, but the Bulldogs settled down defensively, and that 2-0 score stood through the 63rd minute.
That’s when Peninsula defender Jose Soto hustled up the left side to catch up with a ball near midfield, and then carried that ball past a Bellevue defender and into the box where he crushed one into the upper right side of the net for a 3-0 Pirates lead.
Bellevue picked up its offensive energy in the final 20 minutes, spoiling the shutout with a goal in the 74th minute, and threatening on several other shots, but the Pirates held on for the 3-1 victory.
