Brett Arnold, seen here in an earlier game, was one of seven seniors to cap their regular season career. (John Fisken photo)
It could have been a coronation, but instead it turned into a bare-knuckle brawl.
Refusing to roll over and simply let visiting King’s run away with an easy win Monday, which would allow the Knights to clinch the #1 playoff seed among Cascade Conference 1A schools, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad dug in hard.
Scoring first, on Abraham Leyva’s eleventh goal of the season (a possible school single season record), the Wolves took the early lead, but couldn’t quite hold on against the pitch powerhouse.
Falling 2-1, a huge improvement from the first meeting between the two teams, the Wolves wrapped their regular season at 5-9-2 overall, 4-9-1 in league play.
With South Whidbey romping to a 7-0 victory over winless Granite Falls, King’s (10-3-1) needed the win to edge the Falcons (9-3-2).
As the top seed, King’s will host Nooksack Valley Wednesday, while South Whidbey travels to Meridian and Coupeville heads off to Mount Baker.
Even in a loss, CHS coach Kyle Nelson was pleased with the effort his squad showed on both sides of the ball while fighting with a top-level team.
“We played one of our most complete games tonight,” Nelson said. “Got off to a great start and played great defense the second half to keep it a close game.”
He singled out the play of junior goaltender Joel Walstad, who “had a fantastic game, with many excellent saves.”
The game marked the end of regular season play for seven Wolf seniors — Brett Arnold, Cameron Boyd, Josiah Campbell, Jared Dickson, Sean Donley, Jason Knoll and Gunnar Langvold.
JV victory dance: Cody Menges scored for the Wolves and delighted the pro-Wolf audience with an inspired victory celebration, as he charged around the field.
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