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Archive for the ‘Girls Soccer’ Category

 Madison Tisa McPhee looks less than thrilled to be spending part of her Monday night in a Seattle ER. We wish her a speedy recovery. (Jack Tisa photo)

Madison Tisa McPhee is fast. Really, really fast.

Unfortunately, the Coupeville High School senior wasn’t fast enough to outrun a defender who got between her and an airborne soccer ball Monday night. Trying to attempt a header during her team’s regular season finale at King’s (the Wolves fell 6-0), Tisa McPhee collided with the taller Knight and suffered a broken nose.

The resulting crunch could be heard all across the field.

“She used her athleticism to head the ball over someone about six inches taller than her,” said Coupeville coach Dan d’Almeida. “As she twisted toward the King’s goal her nose went right into the forehead of the King’s center back. Sounded like two helmets clashing, but it was two heads.”

I heard the crack in the stands and tried not to throw up,” said mom Liz McPhee.

After a visit to the ER, a groggy Tisa McPhee was released and allowed to go home, where this very TMZ-like reporter was quick to harass the family. They were surprisingly understanding.

The injury was one of two suffered by the Wolves, as senior defender Anna Bailey re-injured a sprained ankle.

With Coupeville’s first district playoff game just two days away, it would seem unlikely that Tisa McPhee will be on the field, while Bailey’s role may be dictated by her pain tolerance.

“Not sure how sore Anna’s ankle is. She hurt it very early in the season and has been a warrior playing on it since,” d’Almeida said. “I’m sure she will go against Lynden Christian unless it won’t even fit in her cleats! She has been a four year starter at center back and is as durable as they come.”

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Our patron saints, Lexie (left) and Brittany Black.

Best photo of the fall, take 1 — Wolf receiver Riley Boyd and daughter Melody.

       Best photo of the fall, take 2 — Wolf cheerleaders Julia Felici (left) and Mekare Bowen and Felici’s nephew, Drake.

Best photo of the fall, take 3 — Oh, what a night!

I am an Oscar fiend.

It probably made more sense back during my 15-year run behind the counter at Videoville and David’s DVD Den, but even now, stranded in a desolate world ruled by Netflix, nothing gets me quite as worked up as whether “Argo” is going to bring Ben Affleck a little gold man (it’s my early favorite!), or whether “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook” or “Les Miserables” will backhand pretty boy on his way to the podium.

So, in that vein, I offer my own awards show, the BLACKies, which will honor the most memorable moments in local sports. As we wind down the fall season, I’m jumping the gun a bit on a slow Saturday and handing them out early. I reserve the right to yank the awards, if any late-breaking events should so dictate.

And why the BLACKies? The awards are named in honor of Lexie (you were born with an E on your name, and it’s staying, lil’ missy!) and Brittany Black, former Wolf hoops stars and all-universe people.

I always wanted to name a blog “Lexie Black’s Block Party,” (cause she still holds the record for most blocks in a 1A state basketball game and it’s a play on words and … yeah), but figured about 13% of the audience would get it. So, you get this instead.

This is where I would introduce our host for the evening, one Milla Jovovich, but her people have yet to get back to me (fingers crossed for the winter season!!), so let’s just jump in.

BEST OVERHEARD DIALOGUE: Kole Kellison, about to climb up on top of the press box and disconnect electrical cords in the pouring rain, looking down at Kim Andrews and saying, dead-pan, “Does this school have good insurance?”

BEST SURREAL MOMENT: During a girls’ soccer game, as rain slashed down for 40 minutes running, a large pile of goldfish crackers that had been spilled in the stands begin to soak up water and blossomed to five times their size, before crumbling and gently washing away.

WORST COACH: During a blowout win, a rival volleyball coach spent the third set repeatedly checking his cell phone while ignoring the action on the floor. Apparently he had a super-intense game of “Angry Birds” going.

BEST DANCER: A tie between freshman tennis player Zane Bundy, who ruled the Homecoming float parade with his Bieber-like moves, and Wolf tennis coach Ken Stange, who claimed the Duke of Homecoming title cause he has moves like Swayze.

BEST WHAT-THE-HECK-JUST-HAPPENED MOMENT — Wolf netters Ben Etzell and Kyle Bodamer throwing themselves face-first across CEMENT courts in pursuit of balls, sacrificing skin and sanity in pursuit of tennis immortality. Chicks dig scars.

BEST OH-MY-SWEET-LORD MOMENT — With the ball hanging about two inches above his teammate’s head, a foreign exchange Friday Harbor tennis player decided to still go for an overhead, and promptly drilled the ball off of his partner’s face. The resulting whap could be heard on the mainland for the next two hours, and, while I can’t speak Korean, I am pretty sure the following exchange between the two including quite a bit of profanity.

BEST UNDER THE RADAR MOMENT — Having returned after a battle with a vicious staph infection, Wolf senior lineman Anthony Maggio crushed his blockers, forced a fumble and recovered the ball. For the two or three people in the crowd who realized what it meant, it was a small, perfect moment.

BEST TACKLE — Mitchell Losey, playing in a JV game, saving a touchdown by catching his man and then whipping him over his knee like a cowboy taking down a calf in a roping contest.

WORST BREAK — Days after I did an article on BMX riders Orion Kalt and Keegan Kortuem, Kalt went and fractured his tibia/fibula when he landed wrong on a trick and snapped his leg. That hurts just writing it. Get better soon, lil’ dude.

BEST SINGLE GAME PERFORMANCE — Ethan Loy, a seventh-grader, playing like a beast in the lone home middle school football game of the season. He was everywhere, and everywhere he was, someone got laid out cold.

BIGGEST WIN: Coupeville takes The Bucket back from South Whidbey after six years. They’re still crying in Langley. What’s new?

MOST EMOTIONAL WIN: The Wolf spikers taking Sultan down in five epic sets on Breast Cancer Awareness night. Playing for Katie and Kacie Kiel’s mom, who had been diagnosed with the disease just days before, and sparked by Steve Kiel, who shouted down an entire bleacher full of Sultan soccer players by himself, the Wolves were magnificent.

BEST NIGHT EVER (UNTIL THE NEXT ONE): “I love to see their smiles!” said one parent, as the Wolf booters broke through, won their first game of the season against Sultan, danced off the field, then came to cheer on the Wolf volleyballers during the previously mentioned victory. A fine day, indeed.

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Senior booter Madison Tisa McPhee and her dad, Jack Tisa. Good parents, brilliant young women — a Wolf tradition. (Robert Pelant photo)

See, that’s why you have to read the whole headline…

Thirteen Coupeville High School senior athletes were honored before games Thursday night, with soccer losing eight young women and volleyball saying their first goodbye to five (there is still a road game at King’s for both squads, then playoff action).

This gives us a chance to honor those booters and spikers one more time, while paying tribute to the parents who helped make them the successful student athletes they have become at CHS.

Soccer:

Anna Bailey (Bobby and Nancy Bailey).

Vanessa Bernales (Kevin and Jodelyn Bailey)

Amanda d’Almeida (Dan and Cathy d’Almeida)

Haley Marx (Steve and Christy Marx)

Kelsey Miranda (Dan and Marilyn Miranda)

Kelsey Pape (William and Carolyn Pape)

Madison Tisa McPhee (Jack Tisa and Liz McPhee)

Rachel Wenzel (Tim and Susan Wenzel)

Volleyball:

Rhiannon Ellsworth (Steve Ellsworth)

Lauren Escalle (Tammi Escalle)

Katie Kiel (Steve and Elaina Kiel)

Iris Ryckaert (foreign exchange student — host parents Troy and Courtney Fillmore

Bessie Walstad (Shawn and Renee Walstad)

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She’s a saint. An umbrella-bearing saint. (Robert Pelant photo)

There are many things about Thursday night’s Coupeville High School girls’ soccer game that we could talk about.

The rain that came at the start, went away for awhile, then returned with a vengeance for the second half.

The way a senior-dominated team continued to fight and scrap, sliding across the grass and banging balls off of people’s faces long after their final home game had slid out of their grasp. With eight girls wearing the red and black for the final time in front of their parents and classmates, they battled valiantly in a game that was closer than the 5-0 score in favor of Granite Falls might indicate.

The rain, which, when it started coming, came and came and came some more.

The surreal sight of dozens of little yellow goldfish crackers, strewn across the bleachers where they had come to rest after one student’s misadventure with opening a bag had gone terribly, terribly wrong. As the rain poured down, the goldfish soaked up the water and grew twice their size before gently crumbling apart.

The unmistakable vocal stylings of football player turned press box announcer Kole Kellison, who once again added his own understated flair to the proceedings.

We could talk about all these things, but I begin by paying tribute to Christy Marx.

And why you ask? Because she’s the mom of one of those seniors (Haley Marx) who went down playing their hearts out? Well sure, but the real reason — she came with two umbrellas and she GAVE ME ONE OF HER OWN FREE WILL, SO I’M NOT DROWNED RIGHT NOW.

The woman is a saint.

On the field, the Wolves played Granite Falls almost to a standstill for much of the first half. The Tigers finally breached the net with just under nine minutes before the half on a ball that hit CHS goalie McKayla Bailey’s arms and popped out of her grasp at the last second.

A long, booming shot well over Bailey’s head with three minutes to play ran the score to 2-0, then, with the rain slashing down in the second half, things got sloppy and Granite Falls tacked on three more goals.

But, even to the end, the Wolves scrapped. Senior defender Anna Bailey sacrificed her body repeatedly, while her running mate, Kelsey Miranda, subtly hip-checked a dangerous Tiger into the first row at one point.

As the final seconds ticked down, few Wolf fans had fled the rain, and they continued to cheer their young women, who honored themselves by never hanging their heads and leaving their last ounce of strength on the field.

While the won-loss record (1-14 with a road match-up against King’s still looming) has not been what they might have liked, they have never given in and remained a team to the end. It was a point driven home by their coach, Dan d’Almedia.

On his Facebook wall he posted: “Learned something from my team tonight. Thought a 5-0 final against Granite Falls would have spoiled our senior banquet. Absolutely not. Laughter, tears and thoughtful farewells turned that loss into the biggest win in program history. Cream rises again!”

Well, when they have moms like Christy Marx, what do you expect?

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Katie Kiel (right) will get two goodbyes, since she doubles as a cheerleader and a volleyball spiker. Sydney Aparicio is staying around for another season. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

We’re still eight months away from graduation, but saying goodbye to Coupeville High School seniors starts Thursday.

Both the Wolf booters (5 PM) and spikers (7 PM) play their final home game of the season that night, with Granite Falls as the visiting team which should lose if they want to show the proper respect.

Then, the next night, the Coupeville gridiron squad (7 PM) will host its last game at Mickey Clark Field, with King’s, the state’s top-ranked 1A squad, as the intended victim.

Having their final bow before the hometown fans will be:

Soccer — Anna Bailey, Vanessa Bernales, Amanda d’Almeida, Haley Marx, Kelsey Miranda, Kelsey Pape, Madison Tisa McPhee, Rachel Wenzel.

Volleyball — Rhiannon Ellsworth, Lauren Escalle, Katie Kiel, Iris Ryckaert, Bessie Walstad.

Football — Riley Boyd, Serigio Guerro, Kole Kellison, Anthony Maggio, Danny Savalza, Paul Schmakeit, Caleb Valko.

Cheer — Nicole Becker, Emily Clay, Holly Craggs, Darian Emerick, Escalle, Jai’Lysa Hoskins, Kiel, Teri Lee, Ryckaert.

And, not to be forgotten, Wolf netters Nathan Lamb and Ben Wehrman are also departing the court (after they whip up on some people at districts and then, hopefully, at quad-districts and state.)

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