Peninsula College women’s soccer 2015 season preview

Head coach: Kanyon Anderson (fifth season)

2014 record: 15-1-2, first in West Division, 19-2-2 overall; 2nd in NWAC tourney

Top returners: Tori Hagan (D), Tasha Inong (F), Paige Mahuka (F), Manaia Siania-Unutoa (GK), Lexi Krieger (F), Taylor Berg (MF), Kendall Howell (D)

Key newcomers: Hoku Afong (F), Myu Ban (MF), Audrey Barham, Ellie Small (F), Bri Jackson-Vallente (F), Elizabeth Hornsey

by MICHAEL DASHIELL

Sequim Gazette

The Everett Trojans may be the defending NWAC champions. But their new neighbors in the North Division are no slouches — just ask anyone putting together the national junior college rankings.

Peninsula College’s women’s soccer squad, winners of or runners-up to each of the past four conference titles, are shifting divisions this year, putting last year’s top two teams in one powerful division.

Peninsula coach Kanyon Anderson said he thinks Everett, the defending champs, may take some of the spotlight off his team. Last year, Anderson said, there was a certain amount of pressure on the Pirates as they aimed for — and ultimately fell just short of — a three-peat.

“They (the Trojans) are the favorites to win the league,” Anderson said. “That pressure to repeat is off.”

Not so fast: With their success in the past four seasons well-publicized, the Pirates come into the season with their highest Junior College Division I preseason ranking at No. 8.

Everett, incidentally, didn’t make the national ranking list. (P.C. wound up No. 4 at the end of the 2014 campaign.)

Still, Anderson said he’s already heard from his sophomores who have a bit of a proverbial chip on their shoulder.

“We’ll have a bit more of an edge; our sophomores are frustrated they didn’t get a championship ring,” Anderson said.

Helping lead the way, he said, will be Tori Hagan, a 5-foot 3-inch defender from Reno, Nev., who Anderson said likely will anchor the defense from the middle.

Also back from last year’s squad is Lexi Krieger (nine goals), Tasha Inong (eight) and Paige Mahuka (seven), a trio of forwards who finished second, third and fourth in scoring for a Pirates squad that out-scored opponents 80-4 and posted 19 shutouts.

Krieger (five assists), Taylor Berg (four) and Michelle Whan (four) are the top returning playmakers, but Peninsula loses its top three players in terms of assists.

And then there’s the goalkeeping situation. Kasie Lough (seven shutouts) and Emily Flinn (six) are gone, but Manaia Siania-Unutoa is back. The redshirt sophomore posted three shutouts in limited action.

Peninsula’s roster boasts a pair of incoming freshmen backing Siania-Unutoa — including Port Townsend’s Malia Henderson, but as Anderson mentions, “It’s a tough position to jump into.”

At a pre-season practice, Anderson mulled his roster a bit, then admitted he could only name five positions on the field where he’s locked into a particular player.

“If our players compete for those spots … it will be a fantastic season,” Anderson said. “Our sophomores have grown a lot. They grow so fast in such a short amount of time.”

Newcomers

Peninsula’s 2015 recruiting class has some good size and speed, Anderson said.

“We needed to bring in more goal-scorers, more pace on the wing,” he said.

Among the top prospects hitting the pitch for P.C. this fall is freshman forward Hoku Afong from Moanalua High School in Waianae, Hawaii. Afong was a four-year varsity starter at Moanalua High, where she was named All-League her junior year and is a likely winner of that honor when the voting is completed in 2015. She was the fourth leading scorer in Oahu with 14 goals.

“Hoku is a creative attacker,” Anderson said. “She can do it with her speed, with her dribbling or with her passing. Opposing defenders are not going to enjoy dealing with her.”

Myu Ban of Kyoto, Japan, is a freshman that Anderson has high hopes for as well. The midfielder doesn’t speak much English, her new coach noted, but her play already wowed some prep soccer players watching a preseason practice. “She is special,” Anderson said of Ban.

Audrey Barham, a freshman forward from Sparks, Nev., was three times named First Team All-League, was her teams’ Offensive MVP winner three straight years and was named to the All-Nevada Academic Team.

“Her 64 career high school goals tell me she is going to put up fantastic numbers at Peninsula,” Anderson said.

Bri Jackson-Vallente, another freshman forward, played for a Hawaii Preparatory Academy team that won the state championship in 2014 and finished second in 2012 and 2013. She won the State Impact Player Award in 2014.

Ellie Small, yet another freshman forward, was a four-year starter at Reno High School in Nevada. She was named the High Desert League Player of the Year four consecutive years and also earned First Team All-League honors all four years.

Kameryn Jury-Hale is a freshman defender from Waianae, Hawaii, who helped her high school team win the 2014 Hawaii State Championship. She was a member of the highly successful Leahi Premier Team and she started her junior and senior years for one of the best high school programs in the state of Hawaii.

Elizabeth Hornsey, a freshman defender from Poulsbo who attended Silverdale’s Central Kitsap High School, joins the team this fall. She was named First Team All-League and was the Cougars’ Defensive MVP. Her Northwest Nationals’ club team also won the Washington State championship in the First Division.

“Elizabeth is a speedy defender who can run with any of the attackers she will face this year,” Anderson said.

Cierra Hamilton, an incoming freshman defender from Aiea, Hawaii, helped her Hawaii Surf Club Team won the State Cup Championship seven times.

“Cierra will be one of the fastest players we bring in,” Anderson said.

Redshirts

The Pirates’ roster also features a quintet of redshirt players who are eligible to practice with the team but may not see action in 2015.

The group includes Sequim High School grads Leslie Cisneros and Heidi Vereide.

“I’ve always had dreams of playing college soccer,” Vereide said at a recent practice. “The skill level (is up at this level) and everybody communicates more effectively. I’m learning tons. I love the chemistry on this team, too. They’re really accepting.”

Just before junior year of high school, Vereide suffered a leg injury — on the same P.C. field she practices on now, no less — that put her on the sidelines for six months. She rebounded to play soccer her senior year and qualified for the long jump and relays at the 2015 2A state track meet.

“I don’t know how much I’ll play this season,” Vereide said.

“She may be our fastest player out here,” Anderson said of Vereide.

Getting started

Peninsula kicked off the season on Aug. 20 with a road exhibition against the University of Victoria.

The Pirates then play three games in two days in Eugene Ore., with match-ups against Treasure Valley (Aug. 29) and Columbia Basin and Gray’s Harbor (Aug. 30).

Peninsula hosts North Idaho at noon on Sept. 5 and Bellevue at 2 p.m. on Sept. 9.