Coupeville Sports

Shiloh Sandlin leads the charge. (Julie Wheat photo)

Growth and improvement, yes. A win, not on this day.

Facing off Wednesday afternoon with Friday Harbor, which has been a powerhouse in boys’ soccer in recent years, Coupeville’s young booters continued to jell as a team, but were unable to topple the high-powered Wolverines.

Still, the 5-1 home loss was a step forward from the season opener, when CHS was blanked 8-0 by the same foe.

“Much better than our first game of the season,” said Coupeville coach Jim Kunz. “Our Wolves made them work for it. We worked as a team.”

Kunz adjusted his normal defensive setup, with Wyatt Fitch-Marron, Shiloh Sandlin, Sage Arends, and Brian Thompson anchoring the back line in support of goaltender Sam Richards.

“They shut them down,” Kunz said. “A few small mistakes resulted in goals, but we definitely had the ability to win, which is very exciting.”

Coupeville’s goal came off the foot of Arends, who notched his team-high sixth score of the season.

The tally pushes the Wolf junior to nine goals for his prep pitch career, right on the cusp of becoming the 14th Wolf boy to reach double-digits in career scoring.

With the loss, CHS drops to 2-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-7 overall, and sits in fifth place in the nine-team conference with three games left to play.

The Wolves hit the road for their next two, playing Providence Classical Christian Oct. 24 and Lopez Island Oct. 28, before wrapping the regular season with a home clash against La Conner Oct. 30.

The top five teams from District 1 advance to the playoffs, which start Nov. 4.

Defending state champ Orcas Island (6-0), Mount Vernon Christian (6-1), Friday Harbor (4-2), Lopez (3-3), and Coupeville (2-3) currently hold down those slots, with Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood, Grace Academy, La Conner, and Providence all on the outside looking in at 1-4.