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Tamsin Ward (left) and Lillian Ketterling sparked Coupeville to an 8-1 win Tuesday on Orcas. (Jandellyn Ward photo)

The Wolf booters have a great relationship with the back of the net.

Peppering the Orcas Island goalie all afternoon Tuesday, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad thrashed its hosts, capturing a resounding 8-1 road win.

The victory, which gives the Wolves a season sweep of the Vikings, lifts CHS to 3-7-1 on the campaign heading into the regular-season finale.

After sitting 10 days between Tuesday’s tilt and their last game — a hard-fought home tie with big school rival Sultan way back on Oct. 11 — Jasmine Ader’s pitch warriors go back to waiting.

Thanks to a rescheduled game, that finale, a road trip to Bothell to face Providence Classical Christian, is now slated for Oct. 30.

The break between games didn’t seem to slow down the Wolves, who ran their season scoring total to 28 goals.

Freshman Tamsin Ward had the hot foot, sliding four scores into the net to push her total to 14.

That’s the third-best single-season performance by a Wolf girl in the 20-year history of the program, trailing just Kalia Littlejohn (15 in 2017) and Mia Littlejohn (27 in 2016).

Ward passed Avalon Renninger (12) and Ayden Wyman (13) on the career scoring chart as well, and sits #5 all-time, with Lindsey Roberts (17) her next target.

“Where you going?” “To thrash teams and take names!” (Jandellyn Ward photo)

For her part, Ward is most excited about team accomplishment over individual glory.

“I think we played well tonight,” she said. “Our hard work is starting to result in positive outcomes on the field.

“I’m excited to grow with this group of girls.”

Other CHS goals Tuesday came from 8th grade phenom Lyla Grose, who has six on the year, and sophomore Lillian Ketterling, who notched her second and third scores.

As the second-oldest player on the team (behind just senior Frankie Tenore), Ketterling is embracing her role in helping her young squad grow.

“I feel that we’re really starting to game execute the things we practice,” Ketterling said.

“We have one goal, to bring a state championship to Coupeville; I am so excited about our trajectory.”

The Wolves bask in the glow of victory. (Jerry Helm photo)

Now technically, one of Ketterling’s goals could be counted as an “own score” for Orcas, since her shot hit a Viking player, who accidentally knocked it past her own goaltender in the resulting pandemonium.

But then you stop and consider that no, the lethal Wolf sharpshooter is probably just that talented that she can curve a ball off a rival player’s leg, before using Jedi mind tricks to get her rival to do the dirty work for her.

So yep, two-goal night for Ketterling. End of (a very brief) discussion.

Moving on, another one of Coupeville’s eight 8th graders rounded out the offensive explosion, as Hazel Goldman dropped a bomb for her first high school goal.

Seven different Wolves, all underclassmen, have scored this season, with five 8th graders combining to account for 11 of those goals.

The future? Bright.

“Each game we’re putting players on the field in different positions, roles, and responsibilities,” said CHS coach Jasmine Ader.

“These players have been willing to adapt. That shows we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing, developing players.”

Whether playing games or working hard behind the scenes, the Wolves, rebuilding their program after a two-year shutdown, are on the rise.

“Within the last two weeks we’ve added weightlifting, and plyometric training to improve our speed and agility,” Ader said.

“If you don’t know who they are now, you soon will.”

Andrea Gonzalez (22) is part of a talented group of booters helping revive CHS girls’ soccer. (Julie Wheat photo)

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Frankie Tenore is honored on Senior Night. (Jackie Saia photos)

Sometimes a tie can feel an awful lot like a win.

Walk across Mickey Clark Field Saturday night, a wee bit of October chill in the air, and the scene on the Coupeville sideline post-game was a portrait of celebration and achievement.

The Wolf girls’ soccer squad, back after a two-year hiatus, had just wrapped its final home game with a dramatic defensive stand in stoppage time, forcing a 3-3 stalemate with visiting Sultan.

The non-conference tie brings Coupeville’s record to 2-7-1, with two road games left on the regular season schedule.

It also marked another milestone for a Wolf squad on which 13 of 15 players are 8th graders or freshmen.

Standing toe-to-toe, and hip check-to-hip check with veteran booters from a school whose student body outnumbers Coupeville 466-192.5, is a huge achievement.

“What a great night!” said Wolf coach Jasmine Ader. “We’ve been waiting for this moment and started to see it with how well we played on Lopez Island in the last game.

“Our trajectory is going straight up, exactly where we want it.”

That joy and sense of achievement carried over from the team’s one old pro, defender Frankie Tenore, who had Senior Night honors to herself.

“I’ve played soccer almost my whole life, been on co-ed teams like we had the past two years, and girls’ teams,” she said. “I’m so happy to see our program come back this strong, and to get to play with this amazing team.”

While Tenore will soon depart for new adventures, the youngsters — there are eight 8th graders and five fab frosh on the roster — plan to keep making big plays in her honor.

Finley Helm patrols the net with flair.

Goaltender Finley Helm, just an 8th grader, came up huge in the waning moments Saturday, making three saves in a two-minute stoppage time which felt more like 10 minutes.

Flying out of the goal, sliding across the ground, boldly snatching balls away from her rivals just as they cocked their legs to shoot, she made her old man, CHS assistant coach Jerry Helm, beam under the lights.

Complimented for her often-daring play by a passerby, she looked up and nodded.

“It’s my net!!!”

And then she softly giggled, and went about the rest of her night, awash in well-earned joy.

With the Wolves being such a young team, they don’t know what they don’t know. And one of those things is the old rule that few high school teams come back from a two-goal deficit.

Young and full of fire.

Sultan slipped in a couple of quick goals in the game’s first 10 minutes, off of misdirected balls which found openings in the midst of a scrum of players, and things could have seemed bleak.

Instead, Coupeville’s young guns just started firing.

Tamsin Ward and Lyla Grose came flying in, locked and loaded, often with Lillian Ketterling setting them up with well-placed passes.

Some shots slid wide. Some were stopped by Sultan’s netminder. But some got through.

Ward made a sensational run up the right side, leaving a pack of Turk defenders in her rearview mirror, then punched in Coupeville’s first goal midway through the first half.

Not content to stop there, she netted the tying score in stoppage time, giving her 10 tallies in this, her freshman season.

That makes her just the fourth Wolf girl to hit double-digits in a single campaign — joining Mia Littlejohn, Kalia Littlejohn, and Genna Wright — and already has her sitting at #7 on the career scoring chart for a program playing in its 20th season.

Sultan snatched the lead back eight minutes into the second half, with a Turk shooter snagging a rebound and dumping the ball into a tiny open window, but the Wolves never broke.

Instead, they kept on the offensive, pushing the attack, and then taking advantage when a defender sent Ward sprawling deep in Sultan territory.

Granted a penalty kick, Coupeville put Ketterling on the line, and the sophomore sensation responded with an ice-cold move, slapping the ball into the upper part of the net as the goalie could do little else but watch the ball fly past her head.

It was the first high school goal for the scrappy pitch powerhouse, who is the heart and soul of a team with a bright future.

Lillian Ketterling gives Tenore some love.

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Bettie Woolworth and associates would like a word. (CHS Yearbook staff photo)

“We’re coming! They know it now.”

The words were said by Coupeville High School girls’ soccer assistant coach Jerry Helm, but they’re shared by all the players and coaches connected to the program.

Back in action after a two-year shutdown due to a lack of players, a squad sparked by a batch of talented, fearless 8th graders and freshmen is starting to shake things up in the pitch world.

Case in point, Thursday’s trip to Lopez Island, where the upstart Wolves put the fear of God into their hosts, who barely escaped with a 3-2 win.

Consider that the Lobos are 9-1 on the season, with their only loss to powerhouse Mount Vernon Christian, and that they won the first meeting with Coupeville 7-1.

A lot has changed in a mere month.

This time around, the Wolves spent the majority of the game on the offensive, with 8th grader Lyla Grose connecting twice, notching her fourth and fifth goals of the campaign.

That puts her hot on the heels of team scoring leader Tamsin Ward, who has scored eight times, and gives Jasmine Ader’s squad a wicked one-two combo at the top of the roster.

And with Ward just a fab frosh herself, the duo has the potential for a long run of success alongside the other young guns filling the Wolf roster.

Getting fired up for a bright future. (Jackie Saia photo)

Thursday, CHS came within a missed shot here, a strong save there, of a major upset.

“We had 25 shots on goal,” Helm said. “Played hands down the majority on their side of the field all game. Just couldn’t connect.”

Coupeville, which sits at 2-7 in its season of revival, but often plays more like a 7-2 team, returns home Saturday for Senior Night, with the squad honoring its lone 12th grader, team captain Frankie Tenore.

Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM at Mickey Clark Field and admission is free.

Heading home after a stellar performance. (Jerry Helm photo)

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Lyla Grose launches a laser. (Julie Wheat photo)

They’re young, but ready to win now.

Sparked by goals from freshman Tamsin Ward and 8th grader Lyla Grose, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad toppled visiting Providence Classical Christian 2-1 Monday night in a prairie thriller.

The victory lifts the Wolves, whose program was shut down the past two seasons, to 2-6 heading into the final third of the regular season.

CHS travels to Lopez Island Thursday, before hosting Sultan Saturday at 6:00 PM. That will be Senior Night for Coupeville’s lone 12th grader, Frankie Tenore.

Frankie Tenore keeps a watchful eye on the ball. (Julie Wheat photo)

Facing off with Providence, the Wolves relied on their two biggest offensive weapons this season.

Grose banked in her third goal of the campaign, while Ward found the back of the net for the eighth time.

The fab frosh, who played on a CHS co-ed squad last season as an 8th grader, is moving up the career scoring chart at a frantic rate.

With those eight goals, Ward already sits in a tie with Wolf grads Sophie Martin and Sage Renninger as the #7 scorer in Coupeville girls’ soccer history.

With the majority of their prep pitch careers still ahead of them, Ward and Grose are chasing Mia Littlejohn (35), Kalia Littlejohn (33), Genna Wright (20), Lindsey Roberts (17), Ayden Wyman (13), and Avalon Renninger (12) on the all-time list.

Tamsin Ward (left) and Lillian Ketterling are just here to sign autographs. (Jackie Saia photo)

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Whoa, whoa, whoa, the ref would like to know just how many goals Lyla Grose (19) intends to score this season. (Jacob Lujan photo)

See net. Shoot. Score.

Now it’s rarely that simple, what with defenders hanging all over you and often having to dodge weather hazards, but soccer players with the magic touch can make it look easy.

As we roll through the end of September and eyeball October’s arrival, it seems like a great time to pause and tally up the goals scored by Coupeville High School booters so far.

At the moment there are nine Wolves — five girls and four boys — who have combined to drill the nets for 19 goals.

Topping the pack is freshman Tamsin Ward, who is three scores away from joining Mia Littlejohn, Genna Wright, and Kalia Littlejohn as the only Wolf girls to record double-digit scoring totals in a single season.

Where things stand through Sept. 28:

 

Girls:

Tamsin Ward – 7
Lyla Grose – 2
Paige Hill – 2
Finley Helm – 1
Ariella Lee-Spaulding – 1

 

Boys:

Sage Arends – 2
Brian Thompson – 2
Liam Lawson – 1
Edmund Wilson – 1

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