PORT ORCHARD, WA—Port Orchard Football Club is three points closer to clinching the 2023 Cascadia Premier League Pacific Division title after they shut out the Grays Harbor Gulls 4-0 before a record crowd of 816 on Sunday July 2 at South Kitsap High School’s Ed Fisher Field.
Michael Divano and Dominik Pajimola each scored twice and recently added defensive standouts Isaiah Whitesell (goalkeeper) and Victor Cabanas (defender) blended in to help give POFC its first shutout since May 7.
Just three points separated the two clubs going into the match. POFC stood at 6-0-0 on 18 points while the Gulls were 5-1-0 with 15. Now Port Orchard leads by six points. Steel United are in third place with 12.
Remaining matches for Pacific Division Contenders
| Port Orchard FC | Grays Harbor FC | Steel United |
| July 9 – Twin City Union | @ NPFC | Thurston County |
| July 16 – @ NPFC | Thurston County | Twin City Union |
| July 23 – @ Thurston | Steel United | @ Grays Harbor Gulls |
Coach Leonard Prepared His Guys
“I’m extremely proud of the players and their performance on Sunday,” said POFC Head Coach Patrick Leonard. “We faced a tough team in the Gulls, who came in with a clear game plan aiming to prevent us from playing. Credit to them for coming out ready to give us another difficult game, I respect their coach (Drew Grannemann) a lot, but we were ready for them.”
Facebook Gallery: Match shots from Jesse MacKenzie
Facebook Gallery: A Record Day For Fans
Watch the entire match on the video below from DaveSPN.
Two Goals In Each Half
Dominik Pajimola had family members visiting from his native Hawaii and he played a major role in POFC’s win. He drew a penalty kick call in the 15th minute that Michael Divano converted by chipping the goalkeeper.
Divano scored his 14th goal of the season in the 31st minute with a perfectly timed run off of a free kick from Hunter Milbrot.
It was back to Pajimola in the second half as he took a ball from Anthony Toombs and perfectly placed a shot to the right of the Gulls keeper that he could only tip into the side netting. Dominik ran to the sideline and stood atop a bench to acknowledge his family and friends cheering wildly in the stands. The 74th minute strike provided the three-goal cushion that had escaped POFC last week in Tacoma.
Late on, after Grays Harbor had been reduced to ten men, Connor Louden continued on a run down the left side of the box. The Gulls keeper grabbed the ball, but the referee signaled to the spot after he believed later contact had brought Louden to the ground. Pajimola converted the penalty in the 88th to make the final score 4-0.
Record Crowd
816 fans attended the match on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Many brought bubbles and participated in a halftime “Bubble Storm.” It’s the biggest crowd of the season so far for POFC and also the biggest in the history of the CPL.
Twin City Union visits Port Orchard on Sunday July 9 at 3 PM at SKHS. POFC will be looking to take another step towards the playoffs and a division title.
Best Team Performance
“I have been looking forward to this game, and I know I’m echoing the feelings of not only the coaching staff, but everyone associated with our club,” Coach Leonard says. “This opposition were leading us for the majority of the first game against them. Although we won on the day then as well, we were all very clear in our aim to be the better team for the full ninety minutes this time around. In reflection, I feel that we can say we accomplished that.”
“Everyone on the day was a team player. As a coach I can’t ask for more than that. Now we can direct our focus to this next game, and our aim to win this league title in our inaugural season. That will set us up for the postseason and a push for promotion that everyone connected to this club wants to see.”
Playoffs and Promotion
The CPL2 League Winner is decided by playoffs on July 28 and 30 in Puyallup. The top 2 teams from the Cascade and Pacific Divisions qualify for playoff spots. Then it’s the #1 team in Cascade v. #2 in Pacific and #1 in Pacific v. #2 in Cascade on Friday July 28. Those match winners advance to the CPL2 Final on Sunday July 30. Winner “goes up,” promoted to CPL1 for the 2024 season.