Avalon Renninger scored Saturday as CHS girls soccer won for the first time in the playoffs. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Sophia Martin scored twice in a 4-0 rout of Mount Baker.
Mollie Bailey stands around like a pro.
The Coupeville High School soccer goaltender had relatively little to do Saturday, which is a great thing, indicating her teammates were dominating what would turn out to be a landmark win.
Sparked by a pair of goals from sophomore Sophia Martin, the Wolf booters filled the nets at a pace not previously seen this season, torching visiting Mount Baker 4-0 in a district playoff play-in game.
The victory, which lifts CHS to 3-12-2 on the season, is the first playoff win in program history.
It also propels the Wolves into another loser-out postseason battle, this one coming Monday, when Coupeville travels to Bothell to face Cedar Park Christian, which sits at 8-6 on the season.
Win there, and the pride of Central Whidbey moves into double-elimination territory, needing one win in two games to advance to bi-districts.
To see the district tourney bracket, pop over to:
http://www.nscathletics.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=3117&sport=11
Regardless of how Monday plays out, the Wolves made program history Saturday, and did it twice.
There was the win, yes, but Coupeville had to make a big step before getting there.
They had to score in the playoffs, something no CHS girls soccer team had done.
Over the last decade, the Wolf booters had played eight postseason bouts, three against Vashon Island, three against Meridian, and one each against Lynden Christian and Charles Wright Academy.
Along the way, while frequently forced to play on artificial turf, Coupeville had been outscored 22-0.
Jump forward to Saturday, and the Wolves were free to romp once again on the natural grass which covers Coupeville’s Mickey Clark Field.
They were still missing injured starters Genna Wright and Eryn Wood, but got Natalie Hollrigel and Sophia Martin back in uniform, and that paid dividends.
Moments after dropping a rival player on her rear on the opposite side of the field, ever-elusive Mallory Kourtuem set up a magical moment in time in front of Baker’s goal.
Sucking the defense to her, the CHS senior shielded the ball from her defender, then banged a quick shot into the middle of a mad scrum of players.
It wasn’t just a wild shot, but a pass with a purpose, as Kortuem’s laser landed exactly where she wanted it to be – on Martin’s toe.
Making a bang-bang play, the Wolf sharpshooter punched the ball into the left side of the net, burying the orb into the back of the net before the Mount Baker goalie could move.
Without probably knowing it, the CHS duo had made history, possibly bringing a sigh of sweet relief from their coach, Kyle Nelson, as he paced the sideline.
The Wolf head man had entered the afternoon well aware of Coupeville’s postseason scoring drought, something he was intent on ending.
Whether or not his players knew of their tango with history, they kept up the pressure on the field, thoroughly controlling the flow of the game.
Audrianna Shaw missed (but just barely) on a shot which slid to the left of the net, before Martin banged a shot which tore off a chunk of the cross bar but somehow refused to flop into the net.
She got her revenge a few moments later, however, connecting on her second goal of the day, spinning and chopping the ball over the goalie’s shoulder.
With the celebration in full effect, the Wolves were lights-out the rest of the way.
On offense, Coupeville tacked on a pair of second-half goals, with Anna Dion singing the net with her second score in as many games, before Avalon Renninger blew out the back of the net with a long bomb.
Her team-leading sixth goal of the season, it gives the exuberant Wolf senior 12 scores for her stellar career, which puts her fifth on the CHS girls career scoring list.
Plus it made Grandma and Grandpa Renninger, the most-faithful fans in town, very happy, so there’s that, too.
And Bailey?
She was content to be the loneliest girl in town, fielding just a handful of scattered shots, none of which came close to being halfway-dangerous.
Most of Bailey’s time was spent watching her defenders flex their biceps.
First exhibit: fierce frosh Nezi Keiper parking a Baker girl on her butt after administering a hip check which could be heard all the way up in the press box.
As the Wolf booters celebrated history in the moments after the game’s conclusion, Coupeville volleyball ace Maya Toomey-Stout, a big fan of big hits, wandered by, nodding her head approvingly.
“Hell yeah!!!” she said, and then she smiled.
It was a sentiment shared by one and all in Wolf Nation.
