Coupeville Sports

Jeremy Copenhaver doin’ what he does. (John Fisken photo)

For 54 minutes, it looked like a win.

Unfortunately, high school soccer games are 80 minutes long, and eventually a scrappy Coupeville High School defense fell under the onslaught of goal scorer extraordinaire Lucas Swanson Monday night.

With Swanson finding the back of the net three times in less than 30 minutes, visiting King’s came from behind to edge the Wolves 3-1 in a close, highly competitive game that CHS coach Paul Mendes hailed as “the best we played all season.”

“We are making progress and need to keep working hard to improve our game,” Mendes added.

Now 0-8 overall, 0-7 in Cascade Conference play, the Wolves will look to turn things around in the second half of the season. Five of their final eight games will be at home, with a sixth just down the road in Langley against South Whidbey.

Two bright signs pointing forward are the goal-scoring touch of sophomore forward Jeremy Copenhaver, who netted his second score of the season, and the solid play in the net of sophomore Joel Walstad, standing in for starter Kole Kellison.

Copenhaver opened the scoring on an unassisted play, dribbling by two players for a “close-range, well-placed shot” at the 22-minute mark.

“It was a good start for us, putting their defense under a lot of pressure early on,” Mendes said.

The Wolves clung to the lead until well after halftime, with the eventual game-winner not coming until there was just four minutes left on the clock.

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    With five of their next six games at home, Wolf booters will enjoy fan support like this. (John Fisken photo)

The Coupeville High School boys’ soccer team is not a bad team, but they can not seem to catch a break no matter what.

The premier Wolf spring sports team the past several seasons, the booters entered 2013 with big hopes.

Hopes that, so far, have been dashed by fluke goals, a tough, road-heavy schedule, a slow-to-develop offense and a series of ultra-close losses.

After absorbing a 2-1 defeat on the road at Granite Falls Friday night, Coupeville is 0-7, with four of its losses coming by one goal.

The Wolves did break one trend, finding the back of the net for only the second time this season. Senior Josh Wilsey beat a defender to a ball in the second half and punched it home with a quick shot from his left.

Unfortunately, Granite Falls had already rung up two first-half goals of their own (Tyler Bassett and Evan West), and Coupeville never quite made up the gap.

It came close, when Luke Pelant missed a header by mere inches. But time ran out on the Wolves once again, despite their best efforts.

After playing five of its first seven matches on the road, Coupeville will host three straight and five of its next six, starting with a match-up Monday, April 8 against King’s. JV kicks off at 4, varsity at 6.

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Tim Quinn

Kole Kellison

Jeremy Copenhaver

Sean Donley

Josh Wilsey

The victories haven’t been there yet for the Coupeville High School booters, but that doesn’t mean the games haven’t been worth watching.

The Wolves are your prototypical never-say-die squad, and they have been close in five of their six games, being nipped by one goal three times.

As they get closer to that first break-through win of the season, enjoy some riveting game photos from John Fisken.

If you like what you see, head over to http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=3973&league=2&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=19&sport=0&tab=1 for more.

And if you’re in the mood to purchase, use the coupon code EB39734962 to purchase photos from this game before Wednesday April 17, 2013 and receive a 15% discount.

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     Josh Wilsey and the Wolves have played strongly, but are still looking for their first win. (John Fisken photo)

Close, but not close enough.

Playing a rare home game Tuesday, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer team battled unbeaten league leader Archbishop Thomas Murphy almost to a standstill for a half.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats punched in two more goals after halftime, and, combined with a season-long offensive drought suffered by the Wolves, that was enough for a 3-0 win.

The loss dropped Coupeville to 0-6 overall, 0-5 in Cascade Conference play. Half of those defeats have been by one goal, and one goal is all the Wolves have been able to produce in nearly 500 minutes of field action.

ATM improved to a perfect 4-0 in league play (5-0-1 overall) and were just as good as advertised.

“They showed why they are undefeated with an impressive all-around display,” said Coupevile coach Paul Mendes. “They were solid at every position. Their offense and ball possession kept us busy most of the night.”

Josh Bartley scored two of his team’s three goals, and assisted on the other to  Jalen Crisler, while Wildcat goalies Luis Valdes III and Connor Mulvaney combined for the shutout.

The Wolves had several strong scoring opportunities in the second half, including three corner kicks, but were unable to find the back of the net.

While the win-loss record is not where it might have been expected to be, Mendes sees a team on the cusp of breaking out.

“The effort was strong for the entire game,” he said. “Playing a team of this caliber will speed up our growth as we approach the second half of the season.”

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