PORT ANGELES – The Peninsula College women’s soccer team features a nice mix of freshmen and returning players this year as the Pirates look to return to the NWAC championship game.
The Pirates enter the season ranked first in a preseason coaches’ poll. However, the result was very close: Peninsula has 98 points, Spokane has 97 and defending champion Columbia Basin has 91.
The Pirates are also ranked 4th in the nation, while Columbia Basin is ranked 2nd.
The team went undefeated in regulation and overtime last year, finishing 16-0-3 with its only loss coming in the NWAC semifinals against Spokane (5-3 in a shootout).
The Pirates released several very good players from that team – Briana-Jean Tanaka, Taya Bohenko and Caneel Corpuz, who combined for 24 goals last year. They also released goalie Talia Marini, who was a starter for two years.
However, they have 16 players on the team, including their two leading scorers from last year – Graham’s Shawna Larson and Port Angeles’ Anna Petty, who combined for 30 goals. Larson had 18 goals and eight assists last year and Petty contributed 12 goals and five assists.
Petty, in particular, has been a revelation for the Pirates, as she was a very solid midfielder throughout the Roughriders’ league, but did not necessarily score many goals at the high school level.
“She’s willing to do whatever it takes. Last year we needed an extra scorer and she said, ‘I can do that,'” head coach Kanyon Anderson said.
Anderson said Petty will be moved back to midfield, where she has always been able to control the ball well.
Also returning is Gemma Rowland, who was an All-NWAC center back for the Pirates last year. Another player returning on the defensive line is Evee Stoddard. Anderson said Stoddard shows a lot of leadership and he expects her to be a team captain.
“She’s been great, she’s been brilliant for us so far,” Anderson said.
Elliana Barden from Anderson’s hometown of Cheney is also a great offensive force.
“She scored some important goals for us last year,” Anderson said. Barden scored seven goals.
Two other key players returning are defender Isis-Jade Bryant and forward Jaeda Mae Edayan.
Three players will vie to replace Marini in front of the goal: sophomore Kylie Janke, returning from last year, and freshmen Alexandra Naill, another Graham player, and Jordyn Labajo of Hawaii.
“These three are in tough competition,” Anderson said.
With 13 new additions, the team has a good mix of first-year students.
As for players to watch, Anderson said Marlie Hamlut of Anchorage, Alaska, will start at fullback and that the Pirates have two new international players who have impressed – striker Lauren Lases of the Netherlands and midfielder Shiori Shintaku of Osaka, Japan.
Lases scored a goal in the Pirates’ 2-1 loss to the University of Victoria, a four-year university, last week. The Pirates rebounded from that game with a 3-2 win over Vancouver Island University.
Anderson said the game against Vancouver Island was more of a practice game, but the game against Victoria was hard-fought and closely contested.
“I was really happy with our game against the University of Victoria. We don’t want to get fixated on the result, but UVic felt real and competitive,” Anderson said.
The Pirates play some real games, albeit pre-conference games, in the NWAC exhibition games this week in Tukwila. The Pirates will get an immediate idea of where they stand compared to the elite teams in the NWAC as their first game of the year is against defending champion Columbia Basin. That game is today at 3 p.m. Then they play another ranked team, No. 9 Lane, at noon Wednesday.
“To win a championship, any tough game you can get early in the season is helpful,” Anderson said.
The Pirates will play their first home game on August 27th at 5:00 p.m. against Multnomah.
The North was actually pretty strong last year, with Skagit Valley going 12-2-2 and 10-1-1 in the region and Bellevue going 9-3-4. Both teams are ranked in the top six in the preseason, with Bellevue ranked 5th and Skagit Valley 6th. Peninsula begins play against the North on Sept. 11 at Skagit Valley for an early season test on the road.
