Coupeville Sports

Brandon Jansen, seen here in the season-opening jamboree, made his varsity debut Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

Well, the weather was nice.

Unfortunately, that was about the only thing that went right Saturday for the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad.

Missing five starters, and both of their normal goalies, the Wolves ran into a buzz-saw in Langley, falling 9-2 to Island rival South Whidbey in a non-conference game.

The loss dropped CHS to 0-2 on the young season.

After opening with back-to-back road games, Coupeville now plays its next four at home, not hitting the road again until April 8.

First up is Sequim Tuesday (JV at 4 PM, varsity at 6).

Facing the Falcons, a team that went to the state quarterfinals last year, the Wolves were undermanned and overwhelmed.

Playing without goalies Connor McCormick and Jose Marcos, Coupeville plucked All-League defender Tanner Kircher off the field, put him in net and wished him well.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said CHS coach Kyle Nelson. “To start we were missing a number of players, including a few starters. So some guys were playing out of position.

“The first half saw us making mistakes as guys were figuring out new positions and a different team look,” he added. “The second half we were able to start making some adjustments. The guys started to gel in their new positions.”

Trailing 6-0 at the break, the Wolves fought back in the second half and played almost even.

The Wolves netted goals from sophomore William Nelson (off of an assist by Abraham Leyva) and Leyva (from a pass by Taylor Chiles).

It was Nelson’s first score of the season, while Leyva now has two goals in two games and 27 for his prep career.