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Sage Arends rolls into action. (Julie Wheat photos)

It’s the premier pitch conference in Washington.

The Northwest 2B/1B League has produced four of the last five 2B/1B boys’ soccer state champs and taken 13 of 20 tourney trophies in that time.

So, when it comes time for coaches to pick their best players, it’s ultra-competitive.

This time around was no different, with Orcas Island — which has played in five straight state title games, winning three — having the league MVP in senior Joaquin Shanks Morales.

The Vikings also collected the Team Sportsmanship trophy, while Mount Vernon Christian leader Jeremiah Wohlgemuth was tapped as Coach of the Year.

Coupeville, which was in playoff contention until the final day of the season, landed two players on the Honorable Mention list, with juniors Sage Arends and Sam Richards earning props for their play.

Arends punched in seven goals for the Wolves, while Richards stood tall as a goalkeeper, fending off some of the most-potent offenses in the game.

Sam Richards gets his props.

 

First-Team:

Emilio Bayas – Senior – Friday Harbor
Isidro Churape – Junior – Friday Harbor
Anthony Conejo – Senior – Orcas Island
Junior Conejo Medina – Sophomore – Orcas Island
Zane Dahlberg – Junior – Mount Vernon Christian
Abdul Guzman – Junior – Friday Harbor
Timoteo Malo – Junior – Orcas Island
Andres Meissner – Senior – Lopez Island
Kaleb Otis – Junior – La Conner
Sean Russell – Senior – Mount Vernon Christian
Ryker Stewart – Senior – Grace Academy

 

Second-Team:

Ben Letsche – Junior – Providence Classical Christian
Mickael Mbuyu – Senior – Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood
Connor Mounts – Sophomore – Mount Vernon Christian
Logan Mounts – Senior – Mount Vernon Christian
Elias Poole – Junior – Providence Classical Christian
Lauro Quintero Carrion – Senior – Orcas Island
Oliver Rick – Senior – Lopez Island
Angelo Vaccarella – Senior – Orcas Island
Sam Vaccarella – Sophomore – Orcas Island
Walker Wohlgemuth – Freshman – Mount Vernon Christian
Grady Woodmansee – Sophomore – Mount Vernon Christian

 

Honorable Mention:

Jayce Anderson – Senior – Grace Academy
Eric Apopei – Junior – Providence Classical Christian
Sage Arends – Junior – Coupeville
Forrest Goodremont – Junior – Friday Harbor
Huck Henderson – Sophomore – Lopez Island
Kaden Horn – Sophomore – Friday Harbor
Paul Kloss – Sophomore – Providence Classical Christian
Riley Miller – Junior – Friday Harbor
Kale Navarette-Higgins – Junior – La Conner
Lydia Negash – Junior – Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood
Sam Richards – Junior – Coupeville
Lane Tenborg – Senior – Mount Vernon Christian
Nolan Wohlgemuth – Junior – Mount Vernon Christian

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Coupeville’s Edmund Kunz (right) battles with Orcas Island captain Joaquin Shanks Morales for control of the ball. (Julie Wheat photo)

One conference towers above the rest these days.

Over the past five seasons, the Northwest 2B/1B League has collected 13 of the 20 state tournament trophies handed out to boys’ soccer teams, including four titles.

The premier pitch program in Coupeville’s nine-team league has been Orcas Island, which slipped past Spokane’s Saint George’s School 1-0 Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School to capture said crown.

That gives the Vikings back-to-back state 2B/1B titles, and three in five years, with runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2022.

NWL rival Mount Vernon Christian, which upended Orcas to win the District 1/2 title two weeks ago, lost to Saint George’s Friday in a shootout in the semifinals.

The Hurricanes then rebounded to drill Evergreen Lutheran 4-2 Saturday to bring home a 3rd place trophy.

It’s hard to believe now, but no NWL boys’ soccer teams earned a trophy in 2019.

The pandemic wiped out the 2020 state playoffs, but since then the conference has taken home three, three, two, three, and two trophies in the five years since.

Friday Harbor won the state title in 2022 and the only non-NWL team to triumph since Covid has been Upper Columbia Academy, which blanked Orcas 2-0 in 2023.

The Vikings crushed UCA 5-0 in a loser-out first round state game this season.

 

Between 2021-2025 the breakdown for state tourney trophies for NWL teams is:

Orcas Island (5)
Providence Classical Christian (3)
Friday Harbor (2)
Mount Vernon Christian (2)
Lopez Island (1)
Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (0)
Coupeville (0)
Grace Academy (0)
La Conner (0)

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Solomon Rudat gets up close and personal with a rival. (Julie Wheat photo)

Every letterman can return next season.

With no seniors on this year’s roster, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad went 15 players deep, and first-year coach Jim Kunz awarded every man on his roster a varsity letter.

Which makes sense, since most of the Wolves saw considerable field time during a season in which CHS picked up four of its five wins on its home pitch.

The booters were the first of Coupeville’s six fall sports teams to hand out postseason honors, kicking things off with a pizza party Tuesday night.

Josh Richards jumps on an unsuspecting soccer ball. (Julie Wheat photo)

 

Varsity letter winners:

Sage Arends
Mal Chapa
Wyatt Fitch-Marron
Diego Gonzalez
Edmund Kunz
Liam Lawson
Jacob Lujan
Josh Richards
Sam Richards
Sawyer Rudat
Solomon Rudat
Shiloh Sandlin
Brian Thompson
Aiden Wheat
Edmund Wilson

The Wolves prepare to take the field on breast cancer awareness night. (Jackie Saia photo)

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CHS boys’ soccer won four out of its final five games at home, capping things by thumping La Conner Thursday night. (Julie Wheat photos)

They were in it to the very end.

A young Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad, which had no 12th graders to honor on Senior Night, was still fighting for a playoff spot in the season finale, proof of the scrappiness of a new-look roster.

And while the Wolves just barely missed out on that postseason berth, it was through no fault of their own, as they ran visiting La Conner off the field Thursday night in a campaign-closing 4-1 win.

With the victory, its fourth in its last five games on the pitch at Mickey Clark Field, CHS finishes 3-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-9 overall.

Defending state champ Orcas Island (8-0), Mount Vernon Christian (7-1), Friday Harbor (6-2), Lopez Island (5-3) and Providence Classical Christian (4-4) will rep District 1 in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood, Grace Academy, and La Conner finish in a logjam at 1-7 in league play, two games off of Coupeville.

Having finished his first season at the helm of the CHS boys’ pitch program, Wolf coach Jim Kunz sees a bright future for the booters.

Coupeville can return every player on its roster, with 12 of 15 players being sophomores, freshmen, or 8th graders.

“One of the biggest things for us was seeing the 8th graders step up and show they can play high school ball,” Kunz said. “We’ve got potential for our future years, and for building a really strong program.”

A growing number of Wolves have committed to playing select soccer and putting in off-season work, and while the team had no seniors, coaches used the opportunity to praise their three junior captains — Sage Arends, Solomon Rudat, and Sam Richards — for providing leadership to the young guns.

Sage has been leading on and off the field,” Kunz said in pre-game comments.

“He’s a powerhouse on the field and spends personal time keeping teammates up to date on practices and games.

Solomon is a graceful player on the field and has a knack for maintaining his temper and composure,” the coach added.

Sam is an amazing goalie and vocally leads the team.”

It’s a war on the pitch.

While La Conner had little left to play for, the Braves put up a good fight in the first half Thursday, forcing the Wolves to scramble to reclaim the advantage.

Coupeville got on the board fairly early, as Edmund Wilson slapped a shot past the La Conner netminder less than three minutes into play.

Unfortunately, for the Wolves, they wouldn’t score again for nearly 40 minutes.

La Conner evened things at 1-1 thanks to a well-placed penalty kick, while Coupeville’s own chance to ring up a goal on a first-half PK slammed into the crossbar and bounced away.

Richards kept the game knotted up with several strong saves, including one in which he dove to spear a dangerous ball off the top of the grass, and the Wolves finally rediscovered their magic touch.

Arends slipped in the go-ahead goal in stoppage time, sending CHS into the break with a 2-1 lead, before Wilson came back around to punch in two more scores in the second half to net the hat trick.

With the late rush, Wilson finishes the season with eight goals, putting him one ahead of Arends in the race to lead the team.

With older bothers Aiden and Cael each scoring 13 times during their prep careers, the Wilson brothers have combined for 34 goals, second-most for one family in CHS boys’ soccer history.

Who are they chasing?

The Leyvas, as brothers Abraham (45 goals) and Aram (29) netted 74. Toss in Cousin Derek (38), and the number grows to an uncanny 112.

Arends also nabbed a bit of Wolf pitch history for himself, as his goal was the 10th of his high school career, making him the 14th CHS boy to crack double-digits.

 

Final season scoring stats:

Edmund Wilson – 8
Sage Arends – 7
Brian Thompson – 2
Edmund Kunz – 1
Liam Lawson – 1

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Aiden Wheat and Co. have one regular season game left to play. (Julie Wheat photo)

It was a blustery, unpleasant day.

Playing on the wind-ravaged pitch on Lopez Island Tuesday, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer team took a hit to its playoff hopes.

Falling 4-0 to the host Lobos, the Wolves slide to 2-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-9 overall, with a home game Thursday against La Conner the only remaining regular-season game on the schedule.

Coupeville sits a game out of the fifth, and final district playoff slot, trailing Providence Classical Christian, which is 3-4.

Defending state champs Orcas Island (7-0), Mount Vernon Christian (7-1), Friday Harbor (6-2), and Lopez (5-3) hold the top four postseason berths.

La Conner, Grace Academy, and Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood bring up the rear of the nine-school league, each carrying a 1-6 record into their finales.

While the Wolves close out with a clash against the Braves, PCC faces Grace Academy Thursday afternoon.

The showdown with Lopez made for “an especially disappointing game,” said CHS coach Jim Kunz.

“Sizing up their style and ability we definitely have a team that should have beat them.”

The Wolves were stretched thin, however, only able to field the minimum 11 players due to illness and injury.

Add in a non-stop wind (but no rain!), and it was hard to move the ball, especially in the second half, when Coupeville had to play into the brunt of the storm.

Thursday’s home finale with La Conner is slated to kick off at 6:00 PM at Mickey Clark Field, and admission is free.

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