Coupeville Sports

Freshman Mason Butler shared time in goal in Coupeville’s season opener. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re not yet at full force.

The Coupeville High School boys soccer squad opened a new season Tuesday with a limited roster, yet still put up a good fight.

While the Wolves fell 4-0 at Mount Vernon Christian, second-year CHS head coach Robert Wood came away pleased with some of what he saw.

“Pretty good play considering the novice team, only two subs, and another five on the bench waiting for eligibility,” he said.

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, Coupeville has plenty of time to get everyone on the roster ready before its next game.

The original home opener set for this Friday was cancelled when Cedar Park Christian begged off due to a lack of players.

That means the Wolves don’t play again until Sept. 17, when they host defending Northwest 2B/1B League champ Orcas Island.

After that, the games start coming much-quicker, with CHS currently sitting with a 15-game schedule.

Or, 16 if CPC reschedules.

Tuesday, Coupeville split time in net between junior Aidan Wilson, who patrolled the goal in the first half, and freshman Mason Butler, who got the call after halftime.

Both Wolf goalies surrendered a pair of scores.

Wood praised the work put in by his active players, with hard-charging senior Xavier Murdy “running himself into the ground” while covering every inch of the field.

The Wolf coach also offered “special consideration to Cameron Epp and Nick Guay” for stepping up and claiming the center back spots formerly held by now-graduated stars Owen Barenburg and Sam Wynn.

With plenty of time between games one and two, Wood is ready to get back to the practice field with his young, relatively-inexperienced team.

“(We’ve got) 999 things to work on,” he said. “Orcas is next week … time to practice and get more players.”