Axel Partida and Coupeville soccer came dangerously close Monday to shattering Klahowya’s four-year unbeaten streak in 1A Olympic League play. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Admit it, few saw this coming.
Playing on the road Monday, the Coupeville High School boys soccer team came within a deflected ball here or there of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in 1A Olympic League history.
Getting a pair of goals from sophomore Derek Leyva, the Wolves pushed Klahowya to the very end in a 3-2 thriller, narrowly missing a chance to shatter the Eagles four-year unbeaten streak in conference action.
With the escape, KSS (5-0 in league, 8-2-1 overall) cements its lead in the standings, going two games up on Coupeville (3-2, 4-5-2) with four to play.
The two schools play again in two weeks, when the Eagles visit Whidbey for the regular-season finale.
That Apr. 30 game will be Senior Night for the Wolves.
Between now and then, the CHS boys, who have never finished higher than third in the Olympic League, will play Port Townsend (1-3) twice and Chimacum (0-4) once.
If they replicate Monday’s effort, the Wolves will massacre the RedHawks and Cowboys.
With his two goals, Derek Leyva pushed his season total to 18, pulling him within two of cousin Abraham Leyva’s single-season Wolf boys mark of 20 scores.
He scored in each half, twice knotting the game up.
Klahowya could never get its lead above one goal, but did manage to slip in a final score late in the game to avoid overtime.
Wolf senior defender Hunter Downes praised his teammates across the board for their play.
“(Goalie) Dewitt (Cole) had a pretty nice game with some good saves, Derek did his usual thing, Will (Nelson) had a good game,” Downes said. “Basically, everyone played well.”
Hitting the back of the net twice against the Eagles is a major step for CHS, as the Wolves had only scored twice in eight previous games against Klahowya.
Coupeville had been shut-out six times, including a 5-0 loss earlier this season, and entered Monday having been outscored 38-2 all-time by KSS.
Klahowya had only surrendered six goals in 10 games this season, with six shutouts.
The Wolves join soccer powers Kingston and University Prep as the only teams to notch two goals this year against the Eagles.
Also, Monday’s game was the first time a 1A Olympic League rival came within a single goal of Klahowya.
The Eagles, who’ve been to state two of the past three years, carried in a 25-0 record in conference games.
KSS had gone 6-0, 6-0 and 9-0 in the first three seasons (2015-2017) of the league, before running off four straight shutout wins this seasons.
In those 25 games Klahowya outscored its three “rivals” 136-8, with only three games being decided by as few as two goals.
Coupeville had never come closer than three scores in any previous match-up with the Eagles.
