With the NWAC postseason about to begin, Peninsula is seeking a return to the victor’s stand.

The Pirate men, ranked No. 2 in the most recent NWAC poll (Highline is No. 1), capped off their North Division crown by splitting a pair of divisional games last week against Whatcom and Edmonds.

Despite a loss Saturday at Edmonds, PC gets a first round playoff bye and awaits their next opponent for a home quarterfinal matchup set for Nov. 7.The Pirates will take on the first round playoff winner of a match between the East Division’s No. 2 team, Walla Walla, and the South Division’s No. 3 team, Southwestern Oregon, at 2 p.m.

Peninsula now has seven consecutive division titles, its first under new head coach Cale Rodriguez.

In a 5-0 win against Whatcom’s Orcas on Oct. 28, Keo Ponce looked to have Peninsula up early but his free kick hit the crossbar.

“We started off with good intensity, good ball movement and good possession; we had a number of early set pieces in dangerous positions (but) Whatcom defended them well,” Peninsula assistant coach Jake Hughes said.

Jonathan Martinez finally got Peninsula on the board at 28 minutes, taking a looping pass from Jonathan Vasquez, cutting inside and ripping a shot into the lower right-hand corner.

C.J. Harvey made it 2-0 Peninsula just before halftime, scrapping for the ball at the top of the penalty box and poking it by Orca keeper Manuel Mendez.

Ponce made it 3-0 Pirates when he converted a penalty kick at 55 minutes and Joe Sorensen did the same at the 87-minute mark.

Sorensen set up Martinez for a goal with just a few minutes remaining for the final tally.

Nick Johnson had eight saves to record the shutout, his conference-leading ninth of the season.

The PC win avenged a 3-0 road loss to the Orcas on Oct. 10 — Peninsula’s only conference loss in 2015.

Playing at Edmonds three days later, Peninsula gave up two first half goals in a wet and windy contest and fell 2-1.

Edmonds’ Victor Villasenor scored at 13 minutes and Mohamed Elmoghrbi made it 2-0 Tritons just three minutes later.

Vitor Maia halved the Edmonds lead when the Tritons failed to clear a ball and he knocked it past Edmonds keeper Giberto Avila.

“(We) couldn’t find that finishing touch,” Hughes said.

North Division standings (final)

Team Conf. Pts Over. GF-GA Sho.

Peninsula 11-2-2 35 13-3-3 47-18 9

Whatcom 8-3-4 28 9-4-4 32-26 3

Edmonds 7-6-2 23 7-8-3 27-33 4

Skagit Valley 5-7-3 18 5-9-3 25-32 2

Shoreline 4-6-5 17 4-6-8 28-26 2

Everett 1-12-2 5 1-14-2 21-56 0