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Posts Tagged ‘boys soccer’

Time for a triple tango

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Cael Wilson and Coupeville play two half-games Saturday in a bid to claim a district playoff berth. (Morgan White photo)

Three teams enter, one goes home happy.

Having forged a three-way tie for the fifth, and final, boys soccer playoff berth from the Northwest 2B/1B League, Coupeville, Lopez Island, and Providence Classical Christian will decide matters on the pitch.

The three teams meet Saturday at Oak Harbor’s Wildcat Memorial Stadium, with action beginning at noon.

Admission is free.

Having ignored my idea of having the teams chug eggnog on a moving ferry, with the last man standing “the winner,” the format for Saturday is:

**There will be a pregame coin flip to determine which teams are A, B, and C.

**If all heads or all tails, team reps flip coins again until an odd one out.

**Odd one out is team A.

**Order of games: A vs. B, B vs. C, A vs. C.

**Games consist of two 20-minute halves with a five-minute halftime.

**No sudden death overtime — straight to penalty kicks if game tied.

**If one team finishes 2-0, they claim the playoff berth. If all three teams finish 1-1, there will be a redraw to decide teams A, B, and C, followed by penalty kick shootouts.

Saturday’s winner, as the #5 playoff seed from District 1, advances to host Summit Atlas, the #4 seed from District 2 in a loser-out playoff game Monday, Oct. 31.

If it’s Coupeville, the Halloween night rumble would most likely be back at Oak Harbor’s stadium.

Monday’s winner hits the road after that, advancing to play Mount Vernon Christian, District 1’s #3 seed, in a loser-out, winner-to-state game either Nov. 1 or 2.

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Playoff puzzle looms for booters

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Wolf seniors (l to r) Grant Steller, Aidan Wilson, Cameron Epp, and Reiley Araceley are not done just yet. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Now, it gets complicated.

Like maybe really, really, really complicated.

What we do know for sure is the Coupeville High School boys soccer team played a very strong first 30 minutes Thursday on Orcas Island, pushing the defending state champs to the brink.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, pitch contests are 80 minutes, and the last 50 belonged to the host Vikings, who turned a 1-0 deficit into an 8-1 win.

The loss, coming in its regular-season finale, drops Coupeville to 3-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-8 overall.

And that’s where it gets complicated.

Of the nine schools to play boys soccer in the NWL, five advance to the playoffs.

Orcas (7-0 in league) faces La Conner (2-5) Friday, then heads to the postseason.

Friday Harbor (7-1), Mount Vernon Christian (6-2) and Grace Academy (4-4) are also playoff-bound.

Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (0-8) is eliminated, and La Conner will be as well unless they spring the upset of the year against Orcas.

If that should somehow happen (it won’t), we’d have a four-way tie for the fifth, and final, playoff berth, with the Braves joining Coupeville, Lopez Island, and Providence Classical Christian at 3-5.

But, even if La Conner gets routed (it will), that’s still a three-way tie, which means we need something more than a straight tiebreaker game to decide the last postseason slot.

What will it be?

Personally, I vote for a team eggnog chugging contest, on a moving ferry, in the style of a penalty kick shootout.

Player barfs, team out. Last team standing with spotless uniforms “wins.”

Some call me a genius. Others use different words…

Meanwhile, back in reality, the #5 spot will be decided, in some manner, likely Saturday, Oct. 29, with the winner advancing to host the #4 team from District 2 in a loser-out playoff game Monday, Oct. 31.

The winner of the Halloween night game advances to face Mount Vernon Christian in a loser-out, winner-to-state game either Nov. 1 or 2.

Details of the tiebreaker should be revealed after the Orcas vs. La Conner game, when everyone knows if it’s a three-team or four-team affair. Stay tuned.

Coupeville had a shot to deny the logjam at #5, as a win on Orcas Thursday would have left the Wolves in a fourth-place tie with Grace Academy at 4-4.

That still would have necessitated a tiebreaker, as the NWL #4 team automatically gets a loser-out, winner-to-state game, but it would have been a straight up two-team affair.

Enduring a fair amount of wind, the Wolves held Orcas scoreless for almost 30 minutes, taking the lead when Aidan Wilson banged home his ninth goal of the season off of a deflection.

That gives the Wolf senior 12 tallies for his high school career, breaking a tie with Zane Bundy and leaving Wilson as the sixth-best goal scorer in CHS boys soccer history.

Orcas eventually broke through, however, netting the tying goal on a penalty kick and the go-ahead score in stoppage time right before the halftime break.

A tense 2-1 affair fell apart in the second half, with the Vikings raining down six goals and showing why they are a strong favorite to win back-to-back state 2B/1B titles.

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Pitch warriors grab must-have win

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Preston Epp punched in two goals Tuesday, lifting Coupeville to a win. (Morgan White photo)

They’re still alive.

Bouncing back from a weekend loss, the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad righted the ship, nipping visiting La Conner 2-1 Tuesday night.

The Senior Night victory was huge and lifts the Wolves to 3-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-7 overall heading into the regular season finale.

That game arrives Thursday, when CHS travels to Orcas Island to face the defending state champs, who are 6-0 in conference action, 11-1 overall.

Five of the nine schools who play boys soccer in the NWL make it to the playoffs, and Orcas, Mount Vernon Christian, and Friday Harbor have clinched berths, while winless Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood is DOA.

After that it’s a big mess, with five teams, including Coupeville, vying for the last two slots.

An upset of Orcas would be huge for the Wolves, but, for the moment, they’ll bask in the afterglow of toppling the Braves.

They did so with sophomore Preston Epp rattling home both of his team’s goals, giving him five tallies on the season.

“He was great all night,” said Coupeville coach Robert Wood, who went on to praise the work put in by his entire roster.

“The Wolves FINALLY realize that if you play the game like you practice the game then good things happen,” he said.

“They played amazing – controlling, confident, with purpose in a must-win game.”

While the game was a bit of a nailbiter, Coupeville’s players never cracked under pressure.

“Not without mistakes, but they knew what to do when it happens,” Wood said. “And how to transition the game back in their favor.”

Along with the win, Coupeville used the evening to honor seniors Reiley Araceley, Aidan Wilson, Cameron Epp, and Grant Steller.

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Lopez loss looms large

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Grant Steller and Co. have two regular-season games left as they chase an elusive playoff berth. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The path to the playoffs just got rockier.

A 3-1 loss Saturday to visiting Lopez Island doesn’t eliminate the Coupeville High School boys soccer team from postseason contention.

But it does make it much tougher for the Wolves to claim one of the top five slots in the Northwest 2B/1B League standings, which they have to do to advance.

A win Saturday would have moved CHS into a fourth-place tie with Grace Academy.

Instead, at 2-4 in league action, the Wolves fall behind Lopez (2-2), and land in a sixth-place tie with La Conner, a game back of the Lobos.

Coupeville hosts La Conner Oct. 25 on Senior Night, then travels to Orcas Island Oct. 27 to face the defending 2B/1B state champs in the regular-season finale.

Now 4-7 overall, the Wolves likely need to win both of their remaining games, while getting some help from other teams, to claim a postseason berth.

If Coupeville doesn’t make it to the playoffs, Saturday’s game, a very winnable one, will loom large.

The Wolves, who were missing a key starter and playmaker as Cole White recovers from a concussion, looked flat for much of the game.

And Lopez took advantage. Really quickly.

The Lobos banged home a goal 35 seconds into play, redirecting a partially blocked shot right back into the net, the ball moving left to right before nestling into the corner of the net.

Coupeville’s defenders clamped down a bit after that, and goaltender Cael Wilson made several nice saves, but Lopez found its moments.

A second goal landed in the promised land in the game’s 15th minute, and a third one was slapped home in the 26th minute.

Trailing 3-0 at the break, Coupeville tried to ramp up its attack in the second half but had little luck stringing together a series of successful passes.

Cameron Epp finally got the Wolves on the board in the game’s 58th minute, winning a battle in front of the net to register his fourth goal of the season.

But that was pretty much it for Coupeville.

Aidan Wilson had one strong blast from just inside the midfield marker, but the alert Lopez goalie stepped in front and snuffed out the potential score.

The Wolves hung tough in the waning moments, with Cael Wilson punching a dangerous in-close shot wide of the net, but there were no comebacks on this day.

Afterwards, CHS coach Robert Wood sighed as he gazed across a sun-splashed pitch.

“On to Tuesday,” he said. “We’ll be ready for La Conner.”

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No stream for you!

Posted in Boys Soccer, Football, tagged , , , , on October 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“The internet will not save you!” (Helen Strelow photo)

The revolution may be televised, but not all Coupeville High School athletic contests will be.

There’s a problem with the camera system at Mickey Clark Field, which will prevent Friday’s home football game against La Conner and Saturday’s boys soccer tilt with Lopez Island from being streamed.

The NFHS Network, which provides cameras to schools, is sending a replacement part for the broken doohickey in question, but the package won’t arrive in time for this weekend’s games.

So, if you can’t be at the games in person, you’ll have to go old school and patiently wait for the ink-stained wretches of the media to report on the contests.

Good thing Coupeville Sports is so darn quick about doing that.

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