In a clash of the NWAACC titans, Pirates trump Penguins.

Kalei Gallarde scored two goals in the first half and the No. 1-ranked Peninsula held tough on defense throughout in a key, 2-0 home victory against No. 2-ranked Clark.

"Fantastic result for us," Peninsula coach Andrew Chapman said. "We played a very tough game. Our guys played very smart. Kalei scored two really nice goals to get us the win."

Angel Guerra recorded five saves for his conference-leading fifth shutout.

The win came three days after a big P.C. win against division rival Highline.

Peninsula’s Alex Martinez, the leading scorer in the conference, added to his total with two first-half goals and assisted on another in the second half as the Pirates topped Highline’s Thunderbirds 4-1 on Oct. 2.

Martinez opened the scoring, converting a penalty kick at the 27th minute mark, after Ash Apollon was fouled in the penalty box. Martinez made it 2-0, edging past Thunderbird keeper Trevor Larson and finding the net from a sharp angle on the left side just before halftime.

Apollon then made it 3-0 off an assist from Martinez seven minutes into the second half, but Highline answered on a goal by Scottie Inthoulay to trim P.C.’s lead. The Pirates rebounded with an insurance goal in the final five minutes by Christian Martinez.

"Any time you play Highline it is going to be very heated," Chapman said. "Our guys did really well staying composed and we kept pressing. Shots were even we just got better looks at goal. This puts us in a great position on top of our division."

The newest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll has Peninsula ranked No. 8.

Coming up

The Pirates host Olympic on Oct. 9, at 2 p.m. and play at Bellevue on Oct. 12.