Coupeville Sports

Mia Littlejohn (21), on the attack. (Dawn Hesselgrave photos)

The Littlejohn sisters, hard at work during a three-day, four-game tourney.

318 teams. 2 Wolves.

Not getting lost in the mass confusion that was the Washington Rush Cup, Coupeville sisters Mia and Kalia Littlejohn helped guide their select soccer squad into the semifinals this weekend.

The Littlejohns, fellow Islander Jenna Cooley and their teammates on Northwest United FC G’00 Black split four games over three days.

They opened with a close 2-0 loss to Crossfire Premier Friday, then rebounded to thrash Washington Rush 2-0 in a nightcap.

A 3-0 victory over Thurston County United Saturday put them in third place among the 10 teams in their flight, with the top four advancing to action Sunday.

Down several players due to church commitments and injuries, Northwest United played without any subs in its semifinal match, where it fell 2-0 to the (aptly named) Academy of Soccer Excellence.

“The girls played hard. Mia, Kalia and Jenna ran their little booties off,” said team manager Dawn Hesselgrave.

“Mia came close a few times of putting it in the net,” she added. “It was a white knuckle game.”

The tournament, held on a 900-acre complex in Snohomish, was a massive one, with one team for every three acres by the time the draw was complete.

It was the first of back-to-back weekends the Littlejohns will be on the road for premier level tourneys.

Northwest United plays in the Phillips 66 Rimland Challenge in Bellingham next weekend.