By Eric Trent
When a coach wins back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, and finishes runner-up in 2011 and 2014, anything less than a championship win could be viewed as a disappointment.
But, that’s not how Peninsula Women’s Soccer teams head coach Kanyon Anderson sees it.
After running roughshod through Northwest Athletic Conference competition the last five years, the Lady Pirates faltered in the semifinals, falling 2-1 to Highline.
“I thought we were great this season. We were the best team in the NWAC from September to November, and just didn’t put it together in the final two games of the season,” Anderson said.
“It will be seen as a failure, but I don’t see it that way. The way I see it, there are two separate seasons: the league title and the three game tournament at the end,”
“One lasts from August to November and plays out over 15 games. The other is 8 days and is three games. Of course, everyone wants to win both but that can’t always be the way it goes,” Anderson said.
It was a defensive battle for most of the match, as both teams were scoreless until the Thunderbirds scored in the 54th minute.
Peninsula found themselves in a 2-0 rut just three minutes later when Pirate keeper Mania Siania-Unutoa got caught in a crowd of players.
Myu Ban finally got Peninsula on the board with a long-range goal in the 83rd minute. But, by then it was already too late. Highline was able to keep Peninsula at bay for the final seven minutes and proceed to the championship game.
“Making it to Final fours was an accomplishment. We worked hard to get there and it felt great,” Siania-Unutoa said.
“It’s hard to say what wasn’t working. As a team we just didn’t show up to play and we didn’t execute our strengths to our ability. We just didn’t take advantage of the talent we all have,” Siania-Unitoa said.
Peninsula held the momentum for the first quarter of play, but wasn’t able to capitalize when needed.
“The first fifteen minutes was all us. We played faster and with some purpose but as the half wore on we seemed to lose a little focus,” Anderson said.
A few things really hurt us: first, our all-star center back Kai Mahuka left the game with a concussion. We then gave up two quick goals and found ourselves down 0-2,”
We haven’t had to play without Kai all season, so it was not surprising that we would struggle for a few minutes,”
“Unfortunately, we went down 0-2 in those few minutes. After that, we were really aggressive. We scored a goal and missed two great chances in the final 35 minutes of the game. In a semifinal, a key injury and missed chances are more than enough to seal your fate,” Anderson said.
Anderson also looks forward to the hope and challenges that next season brings.
“I am excited to get back out on the field with this team. They have been so much fun to coach. I feel really lucky to have a team like this to work with,” Anderson said.
