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Posts Tagged ‘Grace Academy’

Wilson wows, Wolves win

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Cael Wilson brings the lightning and the thunder. (Finn Price photos)

The opening act was a huge success.

Kicking things off Saturday in the first game of a soccer/football doubleheader at Mickey Clark Field, the Coupeville High School co-ed booters romped to their first win of the season.

Controlling the action from first whistle to the last moment of action, the Wolves bounced visiting Grace Academy 3-1 in a game which felt incredibly one-sided.

The non-conference win against a league rival lifts CHS to 1-2-1 on the season.

The teams will meet a second time later this season in Marysville in a tilt which will count in the conference standings.

If Saturday’s game was a taste of what’s to come, it should make Wolf fans quite happy.

Punching in two goals before halftime, Coupeville seized control of the game and never let go.

The first score came courtesy senior Cael Wilson, who got a gift from the Grace Academy goalie.

The visiting netminder lost control of the ball while trying to clear it in front of his net, with the orb bouncing right to the rampaging Wolf.

Wilson slipped past his rival, took a quick step or two, then slapped home the game’s first goal a little over 12 minutes into play.

Sage Arends outduels his rivals.

From there, the Wolves added a second tally, with Sage Arends alertly picking up a loose ball while stuck in a pack of players, before popping a shot into the back of the net.

CHS goalie Hurlee Bronec was lights out while holding Grace Academy scoreless in the first half, then moved out into the field after the break.

Sam Richards replaced him in net and also clamped down on the visitors, though one ball got through (barely) during a wild melee with 17 minutes to play.

Mason Butler preaches loves, while hammering fools on defense.

Coupeville’s defenders stood tall in the waning moments, denying Grace a chance to tie, with Mason Butler and Lillian Ketterling among those blunting incoming attacks.

The insurance goal came in stoppage time after Wolf 8th grader Brian Thompson and the Grace goalie collided in the box.

The young whiz kid stepped aside to let his fellow ginger, Wilson, line up the penalty kick, and the grizzled vet hit paydirt.

Banking in his second goal of the afternoon, he notched his third score of the campaign and ninth of his prep career.

Wilson is now tied with Angel Partida as the team’s top scorer this season.

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Ezra Boilek is a bad, bad man

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , , , on October 7, 2023| 1 Comment »

Friday night there was no liquid sunshine as in earlier games, just Ezra Boilek raining down goals. (Jackie Saia photo)

Does Ezra Boilek know who Jim Croce was?

Maybe, maybe not, but Friday night the former lived up to the words sung by the latter during pregame warmups.

And he’s bad, bad Leroy Brown.

The baddest man in the whole damn town.

Badder than old King Kong.

And meaner than a junkyard dog.

Now, Ezra Boilek actually seems like a pretty mellow dude in real life, but on the pitch, he was Grace Academy’s worst nightmare.

Raining down not one, not two, but FIVE goals in one half of play, the sharpshooter with the golden leg spurred the Wolves to a resounding 5-2 win under Friday Night Lights.

The victory lifts Coupeville to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-2 overall, and sets up a royal rumble next Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The Wolves, currently ranked #5 in Washington Interscholastic Activities Association RPI, travel to Friday Harbor to face the defending state champs, who sit at 3-0, 6-1 and #2.

The two schools played in the season opener, with Coupeville falling in a game considered a non-conference affair.

This time around, the game counts in the league standings and has huge playoff implications.

Friday night was all about not getting caught looking too far ahead, and Coupeville took care of business.

Squaring off with a scrappy Grace Academy squad, the Wolves launched an attack on the goal, and Boilek, who spent his freshman season as a kicker for the CHS football team, finished things off with a bang.

His first score came from the right side a few minutes into play, then he cranked goal #2 with a little extra mustard on it.

Score #3 came from the middle of the field, Boilek slapping the ball into the left corner of the net, then wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am he rattled home two more goals before the game’s first 40 minutes were up.

Is his five-goal nuclear explosion a school single-game record for Wolf boys?

It appears so, since CHS career scoring leaders Abraham Leyva and Derek Leyva, who tallied 45 and 38 goals respectively, both topped out at four goals in one game.

So, raise one finger, then two, three, four, and finally, the full hand for Boilek, who was repeatedly mobbed by excited teammates.

In one half Boilek went from one career goal to six, pushing him to a tie for #19 on the all-time Wolf boys’ list, along with Xavier Murdy, Zack Nall, and James Wood.

Wolf sharpshooters (l to r) Preston Epp, Boilek, and Nick Guay live to terrorize goaltenders. (Carly Burt photo)

Grace Academy did manage one goal of its own midway through the first half, then scraped out a second one late in the game after Coupeville had gone to a JV-heavy lineup.

When Boilek wasn’t crushing the life out of the ball, teammates Preston Epp, Ayden Wyman, and Cael Wilson had strong looks at the net, but came up just short of scoring.

Coupeville’s defense was on point all night, especially in the first half, with Hank Milnes, Andrew Williams, Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim and Co. clamping down hard on any potential shooters.

 

Ezra Boilek’s new theme song:

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Lots of lessons, but also a win

Posted in soccer, tagged , , , , on September 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Preston Epp and friends won their second-straight game. (Thomas Studer photos)

A win is a win is a win.

We’re still early in a new school sports year, one in which Coupeville High School volleyball and football are still seeking the thrill of a varsity victory.

So, while a come-from-behind 3-2 soccer triumph Tuesday against host Grace Academy in Marysville might not have been the prettiest, a W is still a W.

The Wolves will take the non-conference win against a league school (don’t ask…) improve to 2-1 on the season and move on to Saturday’s home clash with heavy hitter Orcas Island.

While knowing they’ll probably be putting in some work at practice tomorrow.

“It was ugly, then pretty, then ugly, then pretty,” said CHS coach Robert Wood. “Lots(!) of lessons learned by the second team as well as the first.”

Coupeville started most of its second squad Tuesday, something which threatened to backfire as the Wolves fell behind 2-0 to their hosts.

Cue the bench shuffle.

“Down 1-0 … made me very unhappy,” Wood said. “Made some changes in positions.

“Down 2-0 … made me angry,” he added. “Made some substitutions.”

Eventually a fire was lit under the Wolves, and they responded, crashing home three unanswered goals to claim the victory.

Senior Nick Guay connected on his second and third scores of the season, with Cole White setting up the first goal and Ayden Wyman picking up an assist on the second.

The gamebreaker came off of the foot of White, who snared “a long punt from Cael (Wilson) that he collected nicely to put in the far corner” for his second goal of his final CHS campaign.

Coupeville almost notched a fourth score, as Wyman launched “a smoker of a shot from 25 yards that their keeper made a fantastic save to keep out.”

The junior sharpshooter, who tallied 13 goals in two seasons of leading the Wolf girls, now starts for the boys’ varsity as the team went co-ed after the girls’ program was unable to field enough players for a full roster this fall.

Wyman’s laser was denied at the last second by a Grace Academy netminder who “made a high jump, catching it in midair, landing on his back, but holding it out of the goal.”

“It was a highlight shot and a highlight goal save,” Wood said.

While Wyman narrowly missed career goal #14, Guay got #10 and #11, moving into a tie with Zane Bundy for #7 all-time on the CHS boys career scoring chart.

White’s score was the sixth of his run with the Wolves.

Coupeville also got a stellar play in the net from Josh Lujan, who didn’t give up on a tricky save.

“Josh got a hand on it but failed to contain it,” said Wolf coach Kimberly Kisch. “He then jumped on top of the ball.

“He was right on the line, so we all had to look to the ref to see if it was going to be called a goal or not,” she added.

“Everyone was quiet for a second, then erupted when they realized Josh got the save.”

Quentin Simpson-Pilgrim and Coupeville play four of their next five games at home.

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Big effort, no breaks

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Cole White tallied his fourth high school goal Tuesday at Marysville. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Sometimes you get the breaks, and sometimes you don’t.

For the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad, Tuesday’s trip to Marysville was one of those days when the sports gods chose not to smile on the Wolves.

Despite getting strong play from across the roster, CHS came up on the short end of a 3-2 game with host Grace Academy.

The loss drops the Wolves to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-5 overall.

“Three mistakes at the wrong time in the wrong area…,” said Coupeville coach Robert Wood.

“That’s what happens.”

Even with his team coming out on the short end of the score, Wood was largely pleased with the play he saw from his booters.

“Nick Guay was an excellent second half goalkeeper,” Wood said. “And we had very good, coordinated, disciplined play most of the day from everyone.”

Coupeville’s scores came from Preston Epp and Cole White, who both notched their third goals of the season.

Epp redirected a ball in the game’s 30th minute, taking advantage of a corner kick which bounced around and then came out to him.

For White, he put some pizazz on his goal, charging a high pass from deep in Coupeville’s end of the field, then using his noggin to flick the ball past the Grace Academy netminder, all while having a defender draped all over him.

The Wolves get back at it this Friday, heading back off of Whidbey one more time.

Coupeville’s destination is Friday Harbor, where they’ll get a rematch with a state title contender they shocked 3-1 earlier in the season.

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Tense game, solid finish

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Cael Wilson and Coupeville toppled Grace Academy Friday night in a game decided by penalty kicks. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Cameron Epp and Co. are 2-4 and headed home for three-straight games.

“The soccer gods were on our side today.”

Coupeville High School boys soccer coach Robert Wood and his team exited Marysville with a hard-fought win Friday night, thanks to some skill and some luck.

The Wolves bounced host Grace Academy 3-2, with the game decided by a penalty kick shootout after two scoreless overtimes.

That finale went down 5-3 in favor of Coupeville, and lifts it to 2-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, with both victories coming against the same opponent.

“Strong second half with a good result,” Wood said. “Ending with PK’s is probably the most unfair method known to mankind … but a win is a win, even when the other team outplayed us most of the night.”

Closing out a three-game road trip, the Wolves went to extra time for the second-straight game. Coming off of a loss to La Conner, this ending was much more preferable.

Alex Murdy got CHS on the board with his first high school goal, coming on an “aggressive takeaway and good couple moves to get a power knuckleball shot over the keeper, under the bar.”

Coupeville’s second score came courtesy Nick Guay, who tallied his team-leading third goal of the campaign.

“An aggressive attack on a free ball … cheeky little chip over the keeper rushing the ball and into the goal,” is how his coach fondly remembered it.

Grace forced overtime by scoring in stoppage time, then the two teams failed to score in either of the two five-minute extra periods.

While the Wolves played stellar ball at times, they also benefited from Grace hitting the goal post four times.

Coupeville now returns home for three straight games, starting with a rematch with La Conner next Tuesday, Oct. 5.

The Wolves then host Mount Vernon Christian Oct. 7 and Providence Classical Christian Oct. 9.

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