Coupeville Sports

Coupeville freshman Ayden Wyman scored her first high school goal Thursday, as the Wolves won at La Conner. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They had us in the first half, not gonna lie.

But soccer is a two-half experience, and the Coupeville High School girls soccer squad dominated play after the break Thursday, scoring all its goals in a 3-1 win at La Conner.

The road victory lifts the Wolves back to .500, with the team now 2-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-3 overall.

It wasn’t that Coupeville didn’t have chances to blow the game open in the first half.

The Wolves controlled much of the action, but were continually thwarted by the oldest rule of soccer.

Just when things get interesting, always bet on a ref calling off-side.

Time and again, the Wolves had the advantage, and then a flag would pop up, often seemingly for no reason at all other than the ref needed a bicep workout.

One of the few times she was allowed to run unimpeded, CHS senior Audrianna Shaw came crashing down the left side of the field, narrowly missing pay-dirt when her shot slid wide at the last second.

On another play, Ayden Wyman and Shaw hooked up with Sophie Martin on a dazzling series of quick passes, but Martin’s shot on goal crested over the bar.

Stuck in a scoreless tie with mere seconds to play in the first half, La Conner shocked just about everyone when a long shot kept on rolling all the way into the back of the net.

Trailing 1-0 at the half despite having outplayed their hosts, the Wolves quickly found their scoring groove after the break.

And I mean really quickly.

Wyman, the lone freshman on the team, beat the La Conner goalie 15 seconds into the second half, taking a ball from Shaw and slamming it into the net for her first high school score.

With the game knotted at 1-1, the intensity on (and off) the field kicked up six or seven notches.

While the La Conner student section couldn’t be seen on the video stream, it could be heard, and the Braves brought some nice noise in support of their team.

“You all need to come to every game, oh my God!” was the sentiment picked up by a live mic in the vicinity.

But if the La Conner faithful was loud ‘n proud, the Wolf booters soon took some of the wind out of their sails.

Shaw busted loose on the right side and turned a Carolyn Lhamon set-up into a tie-breaking score, rattling home her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

Then it was Lhamon’s turn to make the scoreboard pop, as she unleashed a laser from the left on a corner kick.

The ball bounced around a bit, then splashed home, likely as an own goal, since it seemed to go off of a La Conner player.

Here at Coupeville Sports we’re biased, however, and plan to give Lhamon credit for her first goal of the season, and second of her prep career.

It’s just how we roll.

From that point on, the Wolves kept coming, with Ava Mitten and Katelin McCormick both coming inches away from adding goals.

It wasn’t to be, though, as the ref, realizing he had stopped calling off-side penalties and allowed the fans to enjoy the game, reverted to form and waved off a late CHS goal.

Still, Coupeville exited with a strong win, a testament to taking advantage of its scoring opportunities, and some nicely-bruising work by rough ‘n ready defenders like Nezi Keiper, McCormick, and Mary Milnes.

Nezi Keiper and Co. were in lock-down mode on defense.

La Conner honors Indigenous children:

Braves players wore bright orange socks while playing, as a way of honoring Indigenous children — both those who died, and those who survived — while in the Residential Boarding School system.

The La Conner school district, which has a sizable number of Native American students, and is closely connected with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, marked “Orange Shirt Day” Thursday.

Honoring the slogan “Every Child Matters,” it is “an affirmation of our commitment to raising awareness of the Residential School experience throughout Canada and the U.S.

“The legacy of Residential Schools is something that has a significant impact on all tribal communities across Canada and the U.S.”