Coupeville’s booters are headed home, with their next two games on their home turf. (Morgan White photo)
Some days the soccer gods are especially cruel.
For the Coupeville High School boys pitch squad, Tuesday was one of those days.
Playing with a short roster, the Wolves scrapped and fought with host La Conner, taking a scoreless game into overtime, only to be punched in the heart by a ref’s interpretation of the rule book.
Was it the right call? Possibly.
But it still hurts, and still helped send the Wolves to a 1-0 loss in a league contest.
With the narrow defeat, Coupeville slips to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, with its next two games at home.
Those contests, set for Sept. 23 and 27, come against two of the most-dangerous teams in the region, however, with Friday Harbor and Orcas Island up next on the schedule.
The latter of those teams is the defending 2B/1B state champ, while the former claimed 4th place at last year’s big dance.
Tuesday’s torrid tilt at La Conner’s Jack Whittaker Field came down to a penalty kick in the first extra period.
The Braves were awarded the one-on-one shot after the ref determined Coupeville’s goaltender had “interfered” with La Conner’s shooter, inadvertently or not.
“Controversial call indeed,” said CHS coach Robert Wood.
“The keeper got the foul on a 50/50 ball with their attacker, where only if you are well-versed in the laws of the game will you understand the call.”
While he would have preferred to take a victory to the bus for the jaunt back to Whidbey, Wood came away pleased with the effort given by his team, which was not at full force.
“Excellent play by everyone on our 13-man roster for this game,” he said. “It’ll be really good to have our full team one of these days.”
Coupeville gets another crack at La Conner before the regular season is done, with the Braves set to visit The Rock Oct. 25 as the Wolves celebrate Senior Night.
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