Avalon Renninger demonstrates how close Coupeville was to a win. (John Fisken photos)
Freshman Mallory Kortuem and the Wolf defense played sharply against Sequim.
Sometimes you get the bounces and sometimes the bounces get you.
The ricochets went the wrong way Thursday for the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team, which controlled the game but still fell 3-1 to visiting Sequim.
The non-conference loss, coming against a 2A school, left the Wolves at 1-1-1 on the season.
Coupeville will have a day to practice, then takes the ferry to Port Townsend Saturday for a 1A Olympic League match-up with the RedHawks.
The Wolves sit atop the conference at 1-0.
Facing off with Sequim, CHS pushed the pace of the game most of the afternoon and out-shot their visitors by a good 2-to-1 clip.
Unfortunately, other than a Mia Littlejohn header (off of a Sage Renninger corner kick) 16 minutes into the game, the Wolves spent much of the game misfiring from relatively close range.
Littlejohn’s sixth goal of the season — she’s scored in all three games — knotted things at 1-1, but Sequim goaltender Clair Henninger was spot-on for the rest of the game.
The junior goalie had several nice saves, with the most impressive one coming when she went airborne to pick off a shot that Lindsey Roberts lashed from the 30-yard line.
Throwing up her hand at the last second, Henninger tipped the ball over the top of the goal mouth, denying the Coupeville sophomore her second score of the season.
Sequim, meanwhile, had few sustained runs at the net, but managed to score on almost all of them.
Their first goal came when they picked off a pass by Wolf goalie Lauren Grove, while a later score took a weird bounce and skittered under Grove’s shoe as she was scrambling into position.
The senior net-minder didn’t play badly, knocking down several shots and verbally directing her squad, but suffered through a rare bout of bad luck.
With a much deeper roster (thanks to the disparity in school size and a couple of Coupeville booters still working their way towards having enough practices to be eligible), Sequim ran in frequent subs and stayed fresh all game.
While he wanted a win, Coupeville coach Troy Cowan chalked up Thursday as something to build on for his squad.
“It was a good learning experience; the game is the best teacher and you just need to take what you learn and put it to use,” he said. “The girls played really well and hung in there.”
In particular, Cowan praised the play of Renninger, his junior captain.
“Sage controlled the pitch and the pace and was a real spark plug, as always,” he said. “She’s a Renninger, so she’s really smart, and that always shows in how she plays out there.”
Coupeville will get a chance at revenge (with a bigger roster) later this season, as it travels to Sequim Oct. 11 for a rematch.
