Nezi Keiper backs down from no one. (Morgan White photos)
Wolves (l to r) Edie Bittner, Jackie Contreras, Anna Myles, and Frankie Tenore arrive to claim the pitch.
“We never stopped. The girls brought strong effort from start to finish.”
That was the primary positive note Coupeville High School girls soccer coach Kyle Nelson carried away Tuesday night.
Yes, a very-strong Mount Vernon Christian squad drilled the Wolves 10-0 at Mickey Clark Field, but the undermanned Wolves never stopped fighting.
Coupeville was missing leading scorer Ayden Wyman, who was ill, but the Hurricanes, who have ruled the Northwest 2B/1B League pitch, would have been tough to topple even with a full roster.
MVC scores quickly — it rattled home the night’s first goal just 33 seconds into play Tuesday — and it scores a lot.
The Hurricanes, who have built a strong program in the past couple of seasons, have multiple weapons, and all of them were firing during their visit to Whidbey Island.
Coupeville’s defense, anchored by seniors Nezi Keiper and Carolyn Lhamon, fought valiantly, charging into the fray time and again.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, MVC kept them under constant pressure, peppering the net with a never-ending hail of shots.
Seven balls found the back of the net in the first half, with three more Hurricane scores tacked on in the game’s final 40 minutes.
Nelson praised his team for not wavering while down 7-0, but instead closing with some of their strongest play of the night.
“We were a little better in the second half,” he said. “The girls made adjustments and finished with conviction.”
The loss drops Coupeville to 0-2 in league play, 1-5 overall, with a crucial game coming up on the schedule next week.
The Wolves host Friday Harbor — a team it narrowly lost to in the season opener — Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Four of the seven Northwest 2B/1B League schools play girls soccer, and two teams make the playoffs.
MVC is the frontrunner right now, La Conner the cellar dweller, and the battle between Coupeville and Friday Harbor will likely go a long way towards determining the league’s #2 seed.
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