Coupeville Sports

The Man, the Myth, the Legend … Danny Savalza.

Lil’ Savalza.

In a little over an hour, eight Coupeville High School soccer players will defend their home pitch for the final time.

It’s Senior Night for the Wolves, with a 6 PM game against Granite Falls. Everything after this, including the final regular-season game Friday and however many playoff games Coupeville can battle through, will be on the road.

It is a superb group of players that has tasted glory in seasons past, but struggled to find a consistent offensive rhythm this year. Of course, every Wolf fan hopes tonight is the spark for a late-season surge like no others.

Shock the world, Coupeville.

But tonight we will bid farewell to Nathan Lamb, Luke Pelant, Tim Quinn, Josh Wilsey, Jacob Lovell, Nathan Kircher, Kole Kellison and Danny Savalza.

Of all of them, I have known Savalza the longest.

Back before he was the heartbeat of his school, the emotional leader of the Wolf student cheering section in his thrift store dress and Bow Down hat, before he took hand-offs and slammed face-first into tacklers on the gridiron and battled for balls on the pitch, he was one of those little kids who constantly ran around Videoville.

A permanent fixture in the video game section, he was the same fun-lovin’ guy he is now, just a little shorter.

And now here is, playing in his final game on his home turf.

I would love to see him do something dramatic tonight. Score a game-winner or grab a vuvuzela horn and run across the field wailing on it, one step ahead of the Fun Police.

But even if it’s just another game, I wouldn’t miss it.

Danny Savalza is Coupeville through and through. And when the legends walk out for the final time, you take your hat off and pay witness.

Athletes come and athletes go.

Danny Savalza will always be remembered.