Matthew Kelley (6) fights for control of the ball. (Pat Kelley photos)
Aram Leyva (left) celebrates his goal.
A few more grey hairs for the coach, but a win to save the day.
Despite squandering a three-goal lead, the North Whidbey Deception FC-01 boys’ soccer squad escaped with a thrilling 4-3 win over its Crossfire arch-rivals Saturday, thanks largely to its Coupeville mercenaries.
Matthew Kelley poked home the winning goal, off of an assist from fellow Wolf Aram Leyva, to pull out the victory.
With time running down, Leyva forced an attack on the goal, then slid the ball to Kelley, who drew the net-minder out.
Once he had the Crossfire goalie in no man’s land, Kelley popped the ball over his head for the eventual winning score.
The comeback was necessitated after the Crossfire, who had tied the Deception in two previous meetings, ripped off three straight goals to climb back into the game.
Whidbey had jumped out to a large lead off of a penalty kick, a goal set up by Kelley and a booming score from 20-yards out off of Leyva’s toe.
The win sent the Deception into sole possession of first place in their league.
Coupeville Sports 
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