Photo: The Peninsula Pirates women’s and men’s soccer teams are NWAC champions

By Oly Archibald

Tukwila — The Peninsula Pirates soccer teams dominated the NWAC Final Four in Tukwila, going 4-0 and bringing both NWAC Championship trophies back to Port Angeles.

The Pirate women defeated Bellevue 1-0, with Rilee Leigh, a graduate of Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho, scoring the winning goal in the 36th minute off an assist from Emma Crystal. This marks the Pirates’ sixth NWAC title.

Rilee Leigh, from Boise, Idaho, scored the Pirates’ winning goal in the NWAC Championship game.

The Pirate men struck early with a goal from Nil Grau in the 21st minute and another from Ezrah Ochoa, assisted by Edwin Diaz, in the 33rd minute. Ochoa sealed the 3-0 victory with a second-half goal, assisted by Grau. This is the Pirates’ second consecutive NWAC Championship and seventh in school history.

Nil Grau (#10), Jamie Joyce (#17), and other members of the Pirates soccer team celebrated their NWAC Championship victory

—

In NWAC basketball action, the Pirate men opened their season with two losses in Tacoma. On Friday, they fell to Tacoma 83-69, despite a standout performance from former Roughrider Isaiah Shamp, who scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Antonio Odum added 12 points, and Patrick Odingo scored 11. On Saturday, the Pirates lost to South Puget Sound 69-62, with Isaiah Lopez and DeShawn Rushmeyer each contributing 11 points.

The third-ranked Pirate women started strong with a win over sixth-ranked Columbia Basin but narrowly lost to fourth-ranked Walla Walla 57-55. Lexi Mackey and Carliese O’Brien led with 13 points each, while Jelissa Julmist added 12 points. The Pirates struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 1-for-9 (11%) after going 6-for-16 against Columbia Basin.

—

The Port Angeles Roughriders swim team had a successful showing at the State meet, finishing eighth overall. Amayah Nelson placed seventh in the 200 freestyle and eighth in the 500 freestyle. Brooke St. Luise finished 14th in the 100 backstroke, and Danika Asgeirsson took 16th in the same event. The 400 freestyle relay team of Lynzee Reid, Nelson, St. Luise, and Asgeirsson placed fifth, while the 200 freestyle relay team of Lizzy Shaw, Asgeirsson, St. Luise, and Reid finished seventh.

Members of the Roughriders swim and dive team, who finished 8th in the state, are pictured from left to right: Danika Asgeirsson, Brooke St. Luise, Emerson Dubois, Amayah Nelson, Lizzy Shaw, Lynzee Reid, and Head Coach Sally Cole