PORT ORCHARD, WA–-If it seems like you’ve seen it all before, you’re not wrong. On May 7 Port Orchard FC rode a first half hat trick (3 goals) by Michael Divano to a big win. Two weeks later it has happened again. For good measure, Divano also repeated the trick of drawing a first half penalty kick. This time the other guys got a couple of goals, though. In the end Port Orchard FC spanked Thurston County 6-2 at Kitsap Bank Stadium.
Divano was knocking before he broke the door down. A trio of near misses were followed by the opening goal in the 12th minute. Michael weaved his way through a stretched Thurston defense and calmly rolled the ball into the net. A through ball from Dominik Pajimola had started the play.
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It was 2-0 in the 23rd minute after Divano played takeaway with a sloppy Thurston defense and rolled home a second one.
POFC were gaining control and just two minutes later they made it 3-0 when Armando Valdez made a run down the right side and crossed the ball across the goal mouth to Bryan Weathington. Bryan’s header went into the mix where Divano cleverly jumped up and out of the way for a trailing Nick Riders to tap it home.
A free kick by Thurston in the 32nd minute was redirected into the POFC net for an own goal to cut the visitor deficit to 3-1. Then Divano was back at it — getting taken down in the box. Sam Gomez scored his first goal for Port Orchard as he converted the PK in the 34th minute to make it 4-1.
Divano got his second hat trick just before the break when Kolby Juarez found him just past midfield and he did the rest with speed and a nifty looping ball on goal. It might have been an attempted pass to the lurking Hunter Milbrot, but before Hunter could catch it the ball rolled into the goal. 5-1 POFC at halftime.
The second half was a slower affair punctuated by a flurry of yellow cards to the frustrated visitors. POFC could have made the damage worse but a second penalty kick try from Gomez hit the post and stayed out.
Jake MacKenzie scored his first goal for POFC in the 86th minute on a pass from Sam Gomez. Jake drove the left side and found the far corner to make it 6-1.
A scrappy conclusion included a burst forward from Thurston for an answer to make it 6-2 in the 88th. The scoring was complete.
Michael Divano has now scored six goals in two matches, drawn two penalty kicks and assisted on a 9th goal. Port Orchard FC has outscored opponents 14-2 in two league matches.
Port Orchard FC improves to 2-0-0 on the CPL2 season. They entertained a home crowd of 704, a new high for the team. Next the guys will travel to Aberdeen on Sunday June 4 to face the Grays Harbor Gulls at 2 PM at historic Stewart Field. The Gulls are also 2-0-0, setting up an early season battle for first place.
Official Website of Port Orchard Football Club 