Cody Menges, seen here in an earlier game, kept Coupeville alive in a penalty kick shootout Tuesday with a brilliant, sudden-death shot. (John Fisken photo)
One play will echo for a long time.
A referee’s interpretation on a tough call late in a tie game Tuesday put the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad down a player, cost them their goalie’s services and will deny that same player a chance to suit up Wednesday.
But it ultimately didn’t cost them a win.
Knotted 1-1 with visiting Vashon Island, the Wolves were scrambling back on defense with six minutes to play when the game, and a portion of their season, took a wild plunge off the side of a cliff.
Coupeville netminder Connor McCormick, who was outside the goal box, was whistled for a hand ball as he tried to get back into position.
The ref ruled it was worthy of a red card, which carries an automatic ejection and a one-game suspension, because he felt the play likely denied Vashon an “obvious opportunity to score.”
The Wolves were allowed to replace McCormick in goal with Jose Marcos, but had to pull another player off the field as well and play 10-on-11 the remainder of the way.
And they did pretty well, battling through 16 more minutes of scoreless play (six in regulation, 10 in overtime) before falling 6-5 in a penalty kick shootout.
It won’t count as a loss, however, but a tie, as Olympic League schools only count shootout wins or losses in conference games, and Vashon is a non-conference foe.
That leaves Coupeville at 0-3-1 on the season.
The Wolves return to action immediately, hosting Bellevue Christian (1-3) Wednesday, but will do so without McCormick.
The senior goalie was the star for most of the game Tuesday, holding down the net with authority and blunting several charges by the Pirates.
After the two teams battled to a stalemate through the first 40 minutes, Coupeville broke through quickly in the second half.
Abraham Leyva took a ball off of the foot of Zane Bundy and smacked a shot into the right corner of the net for his fourth goal in as many games.
Coming just two minutes into the half, it gave the Wolves breathing room and they held on until Vashon got lucky, sliding a partially-deflected shot just under McCormick’s glove at the 19:20 mark.
From that point on, the two teams went toe-to-toe (and often elbow to head, as things got chippy at times).
Marcos held down the fort to end regulation, then Wolf defender Tanner Kircher stepped in to mind the net in OT and through the penalty kicks.
He knocked down Vashon’s second attempt, while Coupeville hit on its first four attempts (Bundy, Leyva, William Nelson and Sebastian Davis) to take a 4-3 lead into the final round of penalty kicks.
The Pirates rallied, however, notching a goal on their final kick, then getting a block on the Wolves fifth attempt.
Knotted at 4-4, the teams exchanged successful kicks, with Coupeville’s Cody Menges draining a pressure-packed sudden-death one to keep things going.
That was it for the luck of the Wolves however, as Vashon banged home their next attempt, before the Pirate goalie snuffed Loren Nelson to end the game.
