Cael Wilson made history Wednesday, becoming the first 8th grader to score in a Coupeville High School boys soccer game. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
They ain’t seen nothing like this before.
Coupeville High School has been playing boys soccer continuously since 2004 — except for last spring, when Covid erased all prep sports.
So, now, during this oddest of seasons, a pandemic-shortened campaign in which traditional fall sports are being contested in the spring, it had to end this way — if it is ending.
Putting a cap on a season in which the soccer program was shut down due to insufficient numbers, then saved when tennis was cancelled, the Wolf booters fell 2-1 Wednesday at La Conner.
“They’re a good team,” said Coupeville coach Robert Wood. “They played well and really wanted the win.
“We played well but just gave away too many balls with players out of positions.”
But hold on just a doggone second, cause here’s where things go sideways in 27 different directions.
First, the game may (or may not) count as an official contest.
No refs showed for the pitch rumble, so Wood and his La Conner counterpart manned the whistles.
“We relived our golden days!,” the Wolf pitch guru said with a laugh.
The whole no refs thing may mean the loss won’t be official and drop the Wolves to 1-4 on the season. Instead, it may be classified as a “friendly.”
Soccer Nation waits anxiously for word from CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith, who, hopefully, is otherwise enjoying a quiet evening during a school year which would have driven a weaker man batty.
Second, it may not be the final game of the season.
It is the last one on the regular season schedule, yes.
But, Northwest 2B/1B League officials have been working on a “playoff” plan in which the top six schools from the seven-team league will face off in … MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!
Or a bunch of soccer games.
Just sayin’ the first choice is the best choice.
Anyways, the games will feature the league’s #1 team versus its #2, #3 vs. #4, and #5 vs. 6.
Regardless of whether Wednesday’s game counts or not, Coupeville should be one of those latter two teams, as Grace Academy finished 0-5-1 and clinched dead-last after losing to league champ Orcas Island.
So, one more game Friday, maybe, possibly?
Want to know the opponent and whether it’s home or away? The nation turns its lonely eyes to Willie Smith one more time, and, hopefully, he turned his phone off for a few hours.
For our third unusual tangent, we return to Wednesday’s game, where those in La Conner witnessed something I don’t believe has ever happened in a Coupeville High School boys soccer game.
A middle school player scored for the Wolves.
Step up Cael Wilson, younger brother of team scoring leader Aidan, and claim your bit of history.
With CHS back in the 2B classification, and the soccer program in need of saving, the Wolves were able to add 8th graders to their roster, and Cael Wilson and Preston Epp answered the call.
Wednesday night, in the 17th season of Wolf boys soccer, the stars lined up just right.
Aidan Wilson, a sophomore, sent a cross which eluded two other Wolf players and two La Conner defenders, with the ball popping right out in front of his younger brother.
“Cael was hanging out in the Zen zone and just placed it right to the corner,” Wood said.
My soccer stat hunting has been an uphill battle, as some scoring records have vanished into the mists of time, and the local newspapers didn’t spend a lot of time documenting the early seasons of the program.
But, prior to Wednesday, I had tracked down 57 Wolf boys who found the back of the net in a CHS varsity game.
From Abraham Leyva, who sits atop the career scoring chart with 45 goals, to guys like Tanner Kircher, Laurence Boado, and Zeb Williams, who celebrated once, it’s a semi-complete record of pitch excellence.
None of those 57 soccer scorers was still in middle school when he punched home a goal however, as far as I know.
Which puts Cael Wilson in the company of a mere handful of Wolf athletes who have hit pay-dirt in a high school game before being an actual, you know, high schooler.
The gold standard is “Big” Mike Criscuola, CHS Class of 1960, a man among boys on the basketball court, even as an 8th grader towering over his older teammates.
Who knows where Cael Wilson’s sports career will go. He might be a legend or a footnote. Only time will tell.
But either way, he’ll always have that moment on the La Conner pitch on May 5, 2021, when he did something I’m 99.2% sure no Wolf booter before him has accomplished.
In a season of weirdness, one bright shining moment to treasure.
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