Men’s soccer: Pirates come back, knock off Edmonds

Published 1:31 am Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Peninsula’s Pirates last week avoided an upset in one game, then routed a conference foe in another game that was postponed thanks to poor weather.

The top-ranked Pirates came back from a first half deficit for a 2-1 win at Edmonds on Oct. 12.

Against Edmonds, the host Tritons had Peninsula on the proverbial ropes for nearly 60 minutes. Edmonds jumped ahead in the ninth minute after a deep throw-in to the box was headed over Pirate keeper Sergio Uribe by Triton forward Mohamed Elmoghrbi, third among NWAC scorers with 11 goals.

“Edmonds defended with 11 players behind the ball for the remainder of the game,” PC assistant coach Jake Hughes noted. “PC had all the possession and limited Edmonds to that first half goal and a couple of free kicks in the second half.”

The Tritons kept the 1-0 lead until Peninsula freshman Juan Carillo got his head on a loose ball in front of the Triton goal and put it home for the equalizer at 59 minutes.

Then, with time running down and the Pirates facing a second-straight North Division tie, Joey Hollimon got the ball to Cesar Gervacio for what proved to be the game-winner in a 2-1 PC win on Oct. 12.

“Joey played a great curved ball into the box from the left side,” Hughes said of the final goal. “Cesar climbed higher and slotted the ball in the right side of the net with a header.”

Slamming Shoreline

With a potentially huge storm in the weather forecast, a home date with Shoreline on Oct. 15 was postponed to Oct. 17. The Pirates, ranked, No. 12 in the national junior college poll, didn’t miss a beat in a 6-0 blowout of the visiting Dolphins.

Kevin Medina led Peninsula with a pair of goals and Carrillo joined teammate Gervacio in the top five list of NWAC scorers with his ninth goal of the season. Jared Ortiz had a goal and Demar Stewart returned from an injury with a goal.

The sixth goal of the match was an own goal by Shoreline.

Carrillo, Ortiz, Adrian Benitez and Miguel Valderrama contributed assists.

The Pirates, who had to rally from behind to beat the Dolphins on Sept. 10 to win 4-3, have since got Shoreline’s number with a 5-0 win on Sept. 28.

Looking ahead

Peninsula is back on the road to face Everett on Oct. 19, Skagit Valley on Oct. 22 and at Whatcom on Oct. 26.

Peninsula finishes the regular season Oct. 29 at home against Edmonds.

The NWAC tournament begins Nov. 2 with pigtail games, followed by quarterfinal games Nov. 5.

The Pirates, seeking their eight consecutive NWAC division crown, can clinch a home quarterfinal game with a pair of wins this week.

The Final Four is set for Nov. 11-13 at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.