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Archive for the ‘Boys Soccer’ Category

Late lead lost, booters fall short

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on May 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

After losing Wednesday in Lynden, James Wood and Coupeville soccer face a must-win game Saturday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s backs to the wall time.

Unable to hold a second-half lead Wednesday, the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad fell 3-2 at Lynden Christian in a district playoff game, and finds itself on the cusp of elimination.

The Wolves, now 6-9 on the season, face Meridian Saturday at Whatcom Community College in a make-or-break game.

The winner of the 7 PM clash finishes 5th at the district tourney and advances to bi-districts, while the loser is done for the season.

Meridian (9-7-2) is a familiar foe, and a higher-ranked one than Coupeville might have expected to play.

The Trojans, who beat the Wolves 4-0 in a non-conference game early in the season, is the #1 seed from the Northwest Conference, but was stunned 3-1 Wednesday by Mount Baker.

Lynden Christian and Baker play for 3rd and 4th place Saturday, while King’s and South Whidbey play for 1st and 2nd.

All four of those teams have clinched a trip to bi-districts.

Coupeville, which opened the playoffs with a forfeit win over Cedar Park Christian, played strongly Wednesday, jumping out to a 1-0 lead at the half thanks to a Derek Leyva score.

The opening goal came just a few minutes into the game, when the Wolf junior slipped a shot from distance through the fingers of the Lyncs goaltender.

Leyva then notched another goal 10 minutes into the second half, taking a through ball from Chris Cernick and doin’ what he does best – make the net sing.

The two-goal night gives Coupeville’s scoring ace 14 goals for the season, and 38 for his two-year career in the red and black.

Up 2-0, the Wolves were rockin’ and rollin’, until the refs got involved and sent the game careening in a different direction.

“Looked like we might just cruise to a nice victory at that point,” said CHS coach Kyle Nelson. “Then, things changed.”

Lynden cracked the seal on the net, scoring twice on corner kicks, before being awarded a questionable penalty kick to win the game.

“Sure looked to me to be a bit of a gift,” Nelson said. “The foul sure looked to occur outside of the penalty box.

“We pressed for our own equalizer, but came up just short.”

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No game, just a win

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Having won their playoff opener by forfeit Monday, Xavier Murdy and Coupeville soccer are guaranteed at least two more postseason bouts. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Well, that was … unusual.

Just hours before game-time Monday, the Cedar Park Christian boys soccer squad forfeited its playoff game with Coupeville, denying the Wolves a chance to play a postseason game on their home field, but guaranteeing their season goes on at least two more games.

Shortly before their bus was scheduled to leave Bothell, CPC officials contacted Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith with the news.

It was the second time Cedar Park forfeited to Coupeville this season, having also done it 10 days ago.

“Not enough players. They must have been hoping to make it, but fell short last moment,” said CHS soccer coach Kyle Nelson.

That tracks with reports from Bothell, where Coupeville softball players saw CPC soccer players on a bus in the parking lot, but the bus never departed.

While CHS was denied its share of the gate, and a chance to raise money with concession sales, the 1-0 win lifts the Wolf booters to 6-8 on the season and sends them to the double-elimination portion of districts.

Coupeville hits the road Wednesday and faces Lynden Christian, which lost 3-0 Monday to South Whidbey. Kickoff is 4:30 PM.

The Lyncs are 6-9-2.

Win in Lynden and the Wolves clinch a trip to bi-districts and play Saturday in the 3rd/4th place game against the winner of Meridian and Mount Baker.

Lose to the Lyncs and CHS gets the loser of Meridian and Mount Baker in the 5th/6th place game, also on Saturday, with just the 5th place team advancing.

South Whidbey and King’s, which beat Meridian 2-0 Monday, play in the district title game Saturday, and both are already qualified for bi-districts.

All Saturday games will be played at Whatcom Community College.

Cedar Park and Sultan, which fell 5-4 Monday to Mount Baker, have been eliminated.

To see the up-to-the-moment playoff bracket, pop over to:

http://www.nscathletics.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2915&sport=9

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Booters prep for playoff run

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on April 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Sophomore Sage Downes has tallied four goals this spring for the CHS soccer team. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Team captain Aram Leyva will lead his squad into its first true home playoff game in many years Monday night.

No need to drive very far this time.

In recent years, when Coupeville High School soccer squads earned home playoff games, they still had to trek 10 miles to Oak Harbor’s stadium, then adjust on the fly to a different playing surface.

But now that the Wolves are back in District 1, the requirement for early-round postseason battles to be played on turf no longer exists.

That means when CHS opens its playoff run Monday, Apr. 29, it will start on the green, green grass of its own Mickey Clark Field.

The opponent is win-less Cedar Park Christian, kickoff is 6 PM, it’s a loser-out game, and yes, you have to pay admission, unlike the regular season.

A breakdown of what you need to know as the district tourney kicks off:

 

What:

1A District 1 boys soccer tournament, featuring the top five North Sound Conference teams against the top three Northwest Conference squads.

 

When:

Apr. 29-May. 4

 

Where:

Multiple locations.

Coupeville opens at home, but a win there sends the Wolves on the road for games at still-to-be-determined locations May 1 and 4.

 

What’s at stake:

Five of eight teams at districts advance to bi-districts, which pits District 1 against District 2.

Three of nine teams at that tourney punch their ticket to state.

 

Admission for individual district playoff games:

Adults and students without ASB — $7.00
Students with ASB, children and seniors — $5.00
Preschool children (with paying adult) – Free

 

Team capsules:

 

Coupeville:

Season record: 5-8

League finish: #3 in 1A North Sound Conference

Goal differential: 31-43

Seniors: (3) – Dewitt Cole, Uriah Kastner, Teo Keilwitz

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 3-7 (beat Cedar Park twice; split with Sultan; lost twice to both King’s and South Whidbey; lost once to Meridian and Mount Baker)

Coach: Kyle Nelson

Mascot: Wolves

 

Cedar Park Christian:

Season record: 0-10

League finish: #5 in 1A North Sound Conference

Goal differential: 6-51

Seniors: (2) – Joel Koszonus, Ray Xiang

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 0-8 (lost twice to Coupeville, South Whidbey, King’s, and Sultan)

Coach: Ken Kerr

Mascot: Eagles

 

King’s:

Season record: 7-3-1 (*NSC web site credits them with an 8th win, but sorry, you don’t get to count a win against your own alumni…)

League finish: #2 in 1A North Sound Conference

Goal differential: 36-8

Seniors: (2) – Gunnar Morehead, Jeffrey Weber

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 6-2 (beat Sultan, Coupeville and CPC twice, lost twice to South Whidbey)

Coach: Matt Sporn

Mascot: Knights

 

Lynden Christian:

Season record: 6-8-2

League finish: #2 of 1A teams in 1A/2A/3A Northwest Conference

Goal differential: 21-31

Seniors: (6) – Jalen Apol, Blake De Ruyter, Cory Ellens, Trent Greenough, Jakob Luce, Nolan Thomas

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 1-1 (beat Meridian, lost to Mount Baker)

Coach:Brent De Ruyter

Mascot: Lyncs

 

Meridian:

Season record: 9-5-2

League finish: #1 of 1A teams in 1A/2A/3A Northwest Conference

Goal differential: 46-25

Seniors: (9) – Tanner Bouwman, Manraj Gaday, Savikar Gaday, Gabe Hughes, Ernan Martinez, Nathan Miranda, Carlos Padila-Solis, Chris Prado, Nicholas Vyvyan

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 3-1 (beat Mount Baker, Coupeville, and Sultan, lost to Lynden Christian)

Coach: Joe Spencer

Mascot: Trojans

 

Mount Baker:

Season record: 8-6-1

League finish: #3 of 1A teams in 1A/2A/3A Northwest Conference

Goal differential: 40-34

Seniors: (8) – Gage Corcoran, Freddy Delgado, Ian Green, JJ Kalsbeek, Kailani Lauderdale, Clover Martin, Trey O’Dell, James Rice

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 2-1 (beat Lynden Christian and Coupeville, lost to Meridian)

Coach: Jason Jorgensen

Mascot: Mountaineers

 

South Whidbey:

Season record: 12-1

League finish: #1 in 1A North Sound Conference

Goal differential: 74-8

Seniors: (6) – Graham Colar, Nevin Daniels, Julian Inches, Michael Lux, Eli Waldron, Cormac Workman

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 8-0 (beat King’s Sultan, Coupeville, and CPC twice)

Coach: Emerson Robbins

Mascot: Falcons

 

Sultan:

Season record: 4-10

League finish: #4 in 1A North Sound Conference

Goal differential: 24-62

Seniors: (4) – Francisco Alvarado-Medina, Blake Bernethy, Gabriel DeBock, Miguel Garcia

Record vs. district tourney qualifiers: 3-6 (beat CPC twice, split with Coupeville, lost twice to King’s and South Whidbey, lost once to Meridian)

Coach: Ryan Schaeffer

Mascot: Turks

 

Bracket:

http://www.nscathletics.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2915&sport=9

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Booters bid adieu, but just for a moment

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Teo Keilwitz clears the ball Tuesday night. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Uriah Kastner was one of three Wolves honored on Senior Night.

These are the flowers you seek.

Senior goaltender Dewitt Cole shares his moment with his family.

Derek Leyva may not be a senior yet, but he can still be festive.

Keilwitz and the parental units.

Wolves (back, l to r) Drake Borden, Catherine Lhamon, and Megan Behan enjoy themselves despite the cold, windy, late-April weather.

Coupeville’s seniors catch a photo op with coach Kyle Nelson.

It’s the beginning of the end.

The Coupeville High School boys soccer team capped its regular season Tuesday with an Island rivalry rumble with South Whidbey, but first took time to honor its three seniors.

Dewitt Cole, Uriah Kastner, and Teo Keilwitz all have at least one more game to play, though, with a home playoff match Apr. 29 against Cedar Park Christian.

Win that one, and they earn at least two more district playoff games.

So, while the final exit can be seen, the road has a few more twists and turns in it before anyone gets there.

For now, we have Senior Night photos, courtesy John Fisken.

To see everything he shot, on and off field, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Soccer-2018-2019/BS-2019-04-23-vs-South-Whidbey/

A percentage of all purchases goes to help fund scholarships for CHS student/athletes, so there’s that, as well.

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Turn your eyes to the playoffs

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on April 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Xavier Murdy played strongly Tuesday in Coupeville soccer’s regular-season finale. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

In small bursts, there were positives.

For one thing, the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad got to play on its own field Tuesday, something which hasn’t happened in more than a full month.

After five straight road games, and then a scheduled home game which turned into a win by forfeit, when Cedar Park Christian declined to travel, it was about time.

Or at least that’s probably what the folks running the concession stand were thinking.

With hot dogs and candy being doled out, and the stands fairly full thanks to it being a rivalry game, that was positive.

The final result on the scoreboard, with visiting South Whidbey romping to an 8-1 victory, and maybe, possibly, running the score up a bit at the end, was less positive.

But, even with the loss, Coupeville, which wraps league play at 3-5, is sitting in a decent place.

The Wolves, 5-8 overall, are the #3 seed from the North Sound Conference heading into the district playoffs, which means they get to host a postseason game.

And truly host it this time.

While playing in District 3, Coupeville’s “home” playoff games were held at Oak Harbor’s stadium, because of that district’s insistence on all soccer playoff games being held on turf fields.

Back in District 1 this year, the Wolves don’t face the same restriction.

That means Monday, Apr. 29, they’re slated to host Cedar Park in a loser-out playoff game on the grass at Coupeville’s Mickey Clark Field.

Kickoff is 6 PM and, because it’s a playoff game, admission will be charged.

Win against CPC and Coupeville advances to play at least two more playoff games, with a solid shot at advancing to bi-districts.

Tuesday night, the scrappy Wolves didn’t play all that badly, but they did run into a bit of a buzz-saw in a Falcon squad which is 7-0 in league, 11-1 overall.

“We had plenty of good minutes, just not a good game,” said Coupeville coach Kyle Nelson. “Give South Whidbey their due, though, they’re a good, tough team.”

The Falcons scored early and often, finding holes in the Wolf defense and rattling home five unanswered goals in the first half.

After the break, the Wolves played aggressively, with Derek Leyva lofting in his 12th goal of the season, before narrowly missing on another score the very next time down the field.

Coupeville, which was playing without several starters, including goaltender Dewitt Cole, was the more physical team and bounced a few bodies around in the late going.

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