PDL Game Report
Friday, July 11, 2014
REDMOND, Wash. -- All season long, the Kitsap Pumas have been checking goals off their list once they’ve reached them.
They checked off a few more items on Friday night as they defeated the Washington Crossfire 3-1 at Redmond High School. The win gives them the PDL Northwest Division title, the third time in club history that they’ve won a division title. They also clinched the Ruffneck Cup, the third straight time they’ve won the derby trophy.
The win also fell on the exact day that they won its first division title in 2009. Kitsap also won the division in 2011 en route to its first and only PDL Championship.
“It’s always good to win,” head coach Andrew Chapman said, sporting a bit of a wet shirt from the water cooler that was dumped on him in the locker room celebration. “It’s a good spot to be in in this area [to compete in the Northwest Division] because it allows you to get ready to get through the postseason.”
The Pumas got a fantastic game from the Gonzalez brothers. Older brother Miguel scored the first hat trick in club history, while younger brother Daniel was a threat on the right wing all evening, making big runs and putting a ton of pressure on the defense.
Gonzalez scored his first goal in the 31st minute when Chuy Sanchez fed him a ball in open space that allowed him to make some good moves to get off a shot and score. He got his second in the 42nd minute when he took a free kick and got a break with a deflection off the wall that found the back of the net.
“The guy made a perfect header right into the corner,” he said with a laugh. “You can’t argue with that.”
His third came in the 55th minute when Joaquin Rivas found him wide open on the right side and he finished superbly.
The Crossfire got back into the match in the 60th minute when goalkeeper Matt Grosey was whistled for a foul in the penalty box after he tackled a Crossfire player in the box. Liam Kelly converted the attempt by burying it into the right corner.
Grosey said he disagreed with the call.
“In my opinion, when I slid [into the tackle] I didn’t touch the guy,” he said. “But the ref saw something else. I kinda disagreed with it but it is what it is. I almost had the penalty too, but he took it well.”
Despite losing the shutout and Brodie Steigerwald, who left soon after Miguel’s first goal with an apparent concussion, the Pumas defense did not bend. Blake Robinson came on for Steigerwald and performed well in his place.
“We knew what we had to do,” Grosey said. “Defensively we kept it sound. We had a couple of shaky moments here and there but we did well. Blake stepped in and did real well. He picked it up right where Brodie left off and didn't disrupt our back line at all.”
With the win and the bye into the Western Conference semifinals, Sanchez said it was a welcome turnaround for him, Cody Shelton and Seb Jansen, who suffered through a lost 2013 season when the Pumas missed the playoffs completely for the first time in club history.
“It always feels good to accomplish a goal that you set,” he said. “When the Pumas gave me a chance to stay here, I had one thing on my mind and that was winning the division. A lot of times last year I felt like I could have helped to win a couple of the games that we tied, so that was frustrating. So when I stayed here, that was my goal was to get us back to being division champions as it should be year in and year out.”
But he said they won’t rest on their laurels.
“I think this makes us more hungry,” Sanchez said. “We tasted victory and we’re super hungry for that national championship now. It’s not over – this journey is not over for us just yet.”