Kitsap Pumas captain Cory Keitz picked up a pretty nice honor this week, being named to the All-Premier Development League team for 2014.

Keitz is retiring after this weekend’s PDL championships, so he’s hoping to add a title before he hangs up his cleats.

I admit it, covering the Kitsap Pumas in the 2011 season was fantastic. Covered pretty much all the home games and a couple of away games as the team marched all the way to a Premier Development League title.

I figured it’d be the best team we’d see Kitsap put on the field.

Well, the 2014 team is putting up quite a challenge with the Pumas ready to compete for another league title this Friday-Sunday in Pontiac, Michigan.

Here’s a story about how the teams compare. For my money, I’d take the 2011 team’s defense any day of the week, but the 2014 team’s offense seems to know how to get the goals in critical moments.

The Kitsap Pumas advanced to the Premier Development League’s national tournament after beating FC Tucson 3-0 in the Western Conference tournament.

Here is the story from Saturday’s game.

The Kitsap Pumas can clinch the Premier Development League’s Northwest Division title on Friday with a win over Washington Crossfire.
The Pumas have already clinched one of the division’s three playoffs berths.
Kitsap (7-1-4, 25 points) trails Vancouver (8-3-3, 27 points) for first place, but has two games in hand.
Victoria (6-3-3, 21 points), Sounders FC U23 (5-5-2, 17 points) and Portland (4-4-4, 16 points) are still alive. Victoria is the team which could pass Kitsap for second place, but the Highlanders would need to win out and have the Pumas lose out.

The Kitsap Pumas have spent most of the season in first place in the Premier Development League’s Northwest Division.
That was until Vancouver (7-3-3, 24 points) won seven straight games to go in front of Kitsap (6-1-4, 22 points) earlier this week.
The Pumas can get back into first on Sunday when they host Puget Sound at 2 p.m. at Gordon Field.
Kitsap has two games in hand against Vancouver, so the Pumas aren’t panicking. But three points against Puget Sound would be welcome after Kitsap lost its first game of the season last weekend against Portland.
The top-three teams in the division make the playoffs.
Kitsap finishes the regular season with road games against Washington Crossfire (July 11) and Sounders FC U-23s (July 16).