New CHS defender Megan DePorter enjoys the great outdoors. (Submitted photo)
The start of the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer season has been all about offense.
Mia Littlejohn has torched the nets for 12 goals in the first five games, smashing the program’s single-season scoring record, and the Wolves are a healthy 3-1-1 overall, 2-0 in 1A Olympic League play.
Thursday, the defense gets super-charged.
When Coupeville takes the pitch to face non-conference foe North Mason, it will be adding a major weapon in senior defender Megan DePorter, a soccer vet making her Wolf debut.
Well, her Coupeville Wolf debut.
DePorter also wore a Wolf uniform during her days at Eastlake High in Sammamish, where she played as a freshman and sophomore, before transferring to CHS during her junior year.
After a year off from high school soccer, she’s ready to get back on the pitch.
“I love the competition there is to soccer,” DePorter said. “I am a very competitive person and I don’t like to lose.
“But it is also an escape for me,” she added. “I didn’t realize how much I missed playing from the time my club season ended until I started playing for the school this year.”
She’s been playing the beautiful game since age six, following in the footsteps of her father.
“I honestly don’t remember how I got into soccer,” DePorter said. “My dad always told stories about him playing when he was younger and when he was in college, so he has always been my rock in soccer.”
The 17-year-old (“going on 18 this year … whoop whoop”) has played every position on the pitch but “defense has my heart.”
“I think my strengths are that I am fast, I can truck people down easily (and legally), and that I’m not afraid to put my face in front of a ball to stop a goal,” DePorter said with a big laugh.
“There are many things that I still need to work on,” she added. “But a big one, especially being a defender, is my timing of when to challenge the ball and commit fully to an oncoming player or when to not commit fully and just try to turn them out to the sidelines.”
The self-described “very adventurous person” tried volleyball in middle school (“it wasn’t the sport for me”) and plans on joining the CHS track team this spring.
“I don’t know what events yet, so we will see how that one goes.”
DePorter hails her entire family for their support, saying her soccer journey wouldn’t have been possible without their help.
“My dad has the biggest impact on the player and person that I am today,” she said. “He played when he was younger, so he always helped coach me and help me out whenever I am stumped.
“He is always there for me no matter what and I thank God every day for him (and the rest of the family, of course),” she added. “My family has never missed a game that I played in and they have always been there on the sidelines cheering me on everywhere my team and I went.”
She also credits her time spent on club teams such as the Bellevue Select Ravens for helping hone her game.
“My past coaches and most recent club team have also made a big impact on the player I am today,” DePorter said. “I learned so much from both the (Ravens) coach and the girls.
“I have that team to thank for a lot of the skill that I have today.”
A country music fan (“I might be from the city, but I do have a strong redneck side to me”), DePorter has pulled down a 4.0 in her time at CHS, and plans to fully embrace her final year of high school, on and off the field.
“I really want to win but overall it is my senior year and I just want to have fun,” she said. “I also want to help guide the younger class defenders and teach them some of the things I know that they might not know, so that they are able to succeed in their years to come in playing soccer.”
After graduation, her plans are semi-set, with an emphasis on continuing her life-long love affair with adventure.
“In the future I plan to attend community college for the first two years then transfer to a four year college and get my bachelors in God only knows what,” DePorter said with a laugh.
“As long as my end result involves animals and being active, not sitting behind a desk, I will be happy.”
Coupeville Sports 