Paige Hill scored her first high school goals against Friday Harbor. (Jackie Saia photo)
There’s a new star in town.
She’s only in 8th grade, but Paige Hill is already making a mark for the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad.
She’s part of a group of fired-up young guns who have joined with new Wolf coach Jasmine Ader to revive the pitch program, and now she’s also a “made woman.”
That last part comes courtesy of Hill’s performance Thursday night, when she rifled in a pair of goals against visiting Friday Harbor during a 5-2 loss.
Just missing out on a hat trick, the promising sharpshooter became the fifth Wolf to score this season, as CHS has rattled the net for 13 scores overall.
With school spirit running wild during Homecoming week, Coupeville’s pitch queens put up “a tough fight” against the much-more experienced Wolverines.
“It’s important to remember that over half of this team consists of eighth graders, trying to uphold the standards and expectations,” a proud Ader said.
Hill got the Wolves on the board in the first half, taking advantage of a corner kick which Friday Harbor failed to clear properly.
Fellow 8th grader Ariella Lee-Spaulding picked up the assist, with Hill beating the rival goalie with a laser shot.
Exactly as planned.
“We’ve been working on attacking the ball first time in the box and making contact,” Ader said.
While the game was knotted up at 1-1 at the half, Friday Harbor pulled away over the last 40 minutes of play as the Wolves “struggled to make it to the final third of the field.”
Coupeville didn’t panic, however, listening to their coach and netting a second goal in the late stages of the game.
“I’ve been working with players on how they respond to things that are out of their control,” Ader said. “I asked the team who will respond and get a goal. Hill heard the call and responded.
“One shy of a hat trick is a bold statement.”
Coupeville, now 1-5 on the season, gets back at it Thursday, Oct. 2 when it hosts non-conference foe Granite Falls.
As they go forward, the Wolves will look to continue the trend of sharing the scoring load, Ader said.
“It’s an amazing feeling when you’ve had different goal scorers every game. If the team continues to stay this hungry the growth will be tremendous.”
Lillian Ketterling provides veteran leadership for a young squad. (Jacob Lujan photo)
Coupeville Sports 