Tamsin Ward, who played co-ed soccer as an 8th grader, will help lead the CHS girls’ program in its revival. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 was a busy day in the world.
Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position he would hold for two years.
Dietrich Mateschitz, one of the co-founders of the Red Bull empire, passed away at age 78. No word on whether he drank his own beverage, or whether it gave him wings.
There was also a partial eclipse, disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was in court, and, oh yes, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team beat visiting La Conner 4-0 in the season finale.
Sophomore Ayden Wyman punched in two goals for the Wolves, giving her 13 for her career at that point, and it was the last game for retiring coach Kyle Nelson, who ambled away after one last postgame interview with me.
After debuting in 2004, the CHS booters left the field that day in 2022 already thinking ahead to the program’s landmark 20th season.
Who knew it would take more than 1,000 days to get there, however?
The CHS girls played through a pandemic, but a crash in roster size sidelined the program the past two seasons.
Kimberly Kisch, a former Wolf player hired to lead her alma mater’s squad, ended up working with boys coach Robert Wood in 2023 and 2024, with a scrappy band of female pitch warriors joining up with Coupeville’s boys to form a co-ed team.
That squad was very competitive in an expanded-for-soccer nine-team Northwest 2B/1B League which has collected the majority of the state tourney trophies handed out in recent years.
Wyman, while denied a chance to chase the CHS girls scoring record, held her own against the boys, and was joined by other scrappers such as Lillian Ketterling, Taylor Marrs, and Frankie Tenore.
But this Monday, Sept. 8, that 20th season finally gets its moment.
Kisch, who decided to move back to coaching youth soccer, kept the flame alive, and new CHS pitch guru Jasmine Ader has capitalized, pulling together enough girls to have a full roster.
That means the Wolves will defend their turf at Mickey Clark Field against visiting East Jefferson this Monday (kickoff is 4:00 PM), a mere 1,050 days after the 2022 squad celebrated KO’ing La Conner.
If you can’t be there for the opener (I myself am 2,800 miles away in West Virginia these days…), Coupeville’s girls are slated to play seven of their first eight at home.
There’s no charge to watch soccer, so cram the stands in support of the Wolf girls being back in (red) and black.
CHS girls soccer schedule:
Mon-Sept. 8 — East Jefferson (4:00)
Wed-Sept. 10 — Lopez Island (4:00)
Fri-Sept. 12 — @ La Conner (4:00)
Tue-Sept. 16 — Orcas Island (4:00)
Fri-Sept. 19 — Mount Vernon Christian (4:00)
Thur-Sept. 25 — Friday Harbor (4:00)
Thur-Oct. 2 — Granite Falls (6:00)
Mon-Oct. 6 — Providence Classical Christian (6:00)
Thur-Oct. 9 — @ Lopez Island (4:00)
Sat-Oct. 11 — Sultan (6:00)
Tue-Oct. 21 — @ Orcas Island (4:00)
Fri-Oct. 24 — @ Providence Classical Christian (3:30)
Coupeville Sports 