Coupeville Sports

Coupeville’s Edmund Kunz (right) battles with Orcas Island captain Joaquin Shanks Morales for control of the ball. (Julie Wheat photo)

One conference towers above the rest these days.

Over the past five seasons, the Northwest 2B/1B League has collected 13 of the 20 state tournament trophies handed out to boys’ soccer teams, including four titles.

The premier pitch program in Coupeville’s nine-team league has been Orcas Island, which slipped past Spokane’s Saint George’s School 1-0 Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School to capture said crown.

That gives the Vikings back-to-back state 2B/1B titles, and three in five years, with runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2022.

NWL rival Mount Vernon Christian, which upended Orcas to win the District 1/2 title two weeks ago, lost to Saint George’s Friday in a shootout in the semifinals.

The Hurricanes then rebounded to drill Evergreen Lutheran 4-2 Saturday to bring home a 3rd place trophy.

It’s hard to believe now, but no NWL boys’ soccer teams earned a trophy in 2019.

The pandemic wiped out the 2020 state playoffs, but since then the conference has taken home three, three, two, three, and two trophies in the five years since.

Friday Harbor won the state title in 2022 and the only non-NWL team to triumph since Covid has been Upper Columbia Academy, which blanked Orcas 2-0 in 2023.

The Vikings crushed UCA 5-0 in a loser-out first round state game this season.

Between 2021-2025 the breakdown for state tourney trophies for NWL teams is:

Orcas Island (5)
Providence Classical Christian (3)
Friday Harbor (2)
Mount Vernon Christian (2)
Lopez Island (1)
Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (0)
Coupeville (0)
Grace Academy (0)
La Conner (0)