WENATCHEE, WA—Port Orchard Football Club’s late season charge has lifted the club into the Evergreen Premier League playoffs. On Wednesday July 8 the Tall Firs took a 3-1 victory over Wenatchee All Stars FC at Mike Hollis Field on the campus of Wenatchee Valley College. Early and very late goals were enough along with the stellar performance of goalkeeper Austin Valdez.
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In the second minute of play POFC were awarded a corner kick. Connor Louden was on the ball, lifting a cross into the Wenatchee penalty area. Tinashe Mambira was in the crowd and quickly got the ball to Aidan Harvey. He lofted the ball in for an early 1-0 POFC lead.
Port Orchard FC continued to attack with some clear and dangerous chances. Twice Dominik Pajimola was near scoring only to be denied by the All Stars keeper.
Wenatchee began to counter, and eventually to control the play and momentum of the first half. POFC were called for a disputed hand ball when a defender was on the ground trying to clear the ball. Austin Valdez saved the attempt in one of his big saves on the night.
Wenatchee continued to push and eventually a free kick was sent into the box. It hit the crossbar and perhaps a Valdez hand, then dropped to the pitch where in a scramble Pierre Vega brought Wenatchee level.
Port Orchard rallied with a goal in the 36th minute from Dominik Pajimola to take back the lead at 2-1 at the half. Vinny Self found Dom in the crease and gave him a ball he could control and fire past the Wenatchee defense.
The Second half was the Austin Valdez show. The All Stars created numerous chances to level the score but each time Valdez was ready with solid and sometimes acrobatic saves.
As the three minutes of added time clicked down Valdez cleared the ball past midfield and Oliver Morrison got to it at the same time as two Wenatchee defenders and their goalkeeper. In the mix up he was able to scoot past all of them and make in 3-1 for POFC. The lead official blew the final whistle seconds later.
The result improved Port Orchard’s record to 3 wins, 2 losses and 3 ties. The 12 standings points were enough to clinch 4th place and the final playoff spot. Just a few weeks ago POFC’s playoff odds were dwindling at around 17%. The Tall Firs then claimed 7 out of 9 possible points with 2 wins over Wenatchee and a tie in Yakima. Meanwhile other results fell exactly how POFC needed them to.
Yakima United is up next for POFC in the EPLWA semifinals the weekend of July 18-19. Match details will be revealed soon. The Hoppers finished top of the table and will host. Port Orchard traveled to Yakima on June 13 and came back with a point in a wild 4-4 tie.
