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Posts Tagged ‘Kalia Littlejohn’

Time to make pitch history!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville girls soccer coach Kyle Nelson and his senior captains, Lauren Bayne (left) and Sage Renninger. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Goal one — score a goal.

Goal two — win a game.

While the Coupeville High School boys soccer team has been to state twice, in 2009 and 2010, the school’s female booters have yet to taste playoff victory.

At any level.

Some will argue that point, correctly stating that an Oak Harbor/Coupeville girls soccer team beat Curtis and North Kitsap in 1994, made the state semifinals and finished fourth in 3A.

But, while the top two players on that unified team, Marnie Bartelson and Amanda Allmer, were the only Wolves to play, everything else gives OHHS ample reason to claim the award as their own.

The squad wore Oak Harbor uniforms, played at Oak Harbor’s field, were coached by an Oak Harbor employee and all the bills were paid for by Oak Harbor Athletic Director Jeff Stone, as he is quick to remind us.

Since CHS started its own soccer program, footing its own bills and playing in red, white and black, and not Wildcat purple and gold, no playoff wins.

In fact, at least over the past eight seasons, the Wolves have yet to score a playoff goal.

Three losses to Meridian, two to Vashon Island, one each to Lynden Christian and Charles Wright Academy and one year with no postseason. Add it all up and Coupeville is staring at a 20-0 deficit.

The goal Saturday afternoon, when the Wolves kick off the 2017 postseason against Vashon, is to change that narrative.

As the #2 seed from the Olympic League, Coupeville will host its playoff opener, though the state’s requirements that postseason games be played on turf requires a short bus ride first.

The particulars:

What: District 3 girls soccer playoff game.

Where: Wildcat Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor (1 Wildcat Way), which is covered and seats 3,000.

When: Saturday, Oct. 28 (1 PM kickoff)

Admission prices:

$8 Adults/Non-ASB
$5 Students with ASB
$5 Sr. Citizens (62+)
$4 Elementary

At stake: Winner advances to face Nisqually League champ Bellevue Christian (a team Coupeville beat earlier this season) Oct. 31.

That game starts the double-elimination round of districts, from which two of four teams qualify for state.

Lose Saturday and your season is done.

The bracket:

http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2402&sport=11

Records: Coupeville is 8-8, Vashon is 8-6-1

Rankings: Coupeville is #30 in 1A on MaxPreps, #164 in the state. Vashon is #19 and #108.

Goal differential: Coupeville has been outscored 54-43, while CWA outgunned its foes 47-23.

Coaches: Kyle Nelson (CHS) vs. Scott Nicolino (Vash)

Student body: In the 2016-2020 WIAA classification counts, Coupeville had 227 students, making it the sixth-smallest 1A school. Vashon had 429.13, making it the fourth-biggest.

Mascots: Wolves (CHS) vs. Pirates (Vash)

Seniors: Coupeville has two (Sage Renninger, Lauren Bayne) while Vashon carries three (Emme Osborne, Paris Crispin, Lizzy Sutherland)

Common foes: Three (Bellevue Christian, Chimacum, Port Townsend).

Coupeville is 7-0 against that trio, with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over BC their defining game of the season. Vashon is 2-2, having lost twice to BC in Nisqually League play.

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Save the best for last!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , , on October 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf sharpshooter Lindsey Roberts returned Wednesday after missing a chunk of the season, scoring in a 2-1 overtime win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

You can’t keep a superstar down.

Chimacum found that out, twice, Wednesday night, as its best-laid plans for a soccer upset were denied in the final moments by two of Coupeville’s best.

Backs pushed to the wall, the Wolf booters rallied for a 2-1 road win in overtime on goals from Lindsey Roberts and Kalia Littlejohn.

The stunning turn of events lifts CHS to 6-3 in Olympic League play, 8-8 overall.

As the Wolves bid farewell to the regular season and turn their attention to the playoffs — they host Vashon Island 1 PM Saturday at Oak Harbor Stadium — they have tied last year’s team for the most wins in a season by a CHS girls soccer squad.

To get there, though, Coupeville had to battle.

Despite a hail of shots which just missed finding the back of the net, the Wolves found themselves in a scoreless tie late in regulation.

Then, to the horror of everyone associated with the road team, the Cowboys slipped in a goal with 10 minutes and counting.

That was the turning point, however, “sparking us into a higher gear” in the words of Coupeville coach Kyle Nelson.

Enter the first superstar, as Roberts, reborn and returned to the pitch after missing a chunk of the season while battling a leg injury, cranked home the tying goal with five minutes to play.

After being relegated to taping games and being a cheerleader for several games, the Wolf junior seized her opportunity, collecting her fifth goal of the year.

Not to be outdone, Littlejohn, Coupeville’s leading scorer, broke a recent dry spell, ramming home the game winner on a “golden goal” in sudden death overtime.

It was Kalia’s 16th score of the season and the 34th of her stellar career, pulling her within one of big sis Mia Littlejohn’s CHS girls soccer career record of 35, tallied from 2014-2016.

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“It was a good night!!”

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , on October 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Sage Renninger set up the winning goal in a 3-2 thriller Tuesday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Playoff ticket? Punched.

While the postseason brackets haven’t been released yet, three teams have advanced out of the 1A Olympic League every year the conference has been active.

If that stays true, and there seems to be no reason it won’t, the Coupeville High School girls soccer squad has clinched one of those slots.

Riding a late goal from breakout freshman star Genna Wright, the Wolves escaped with a nail-biting 3-2 win over visiting Chimacum Tuesday night.

The victory lifts CHS to 4-1 in league play, 6-4 overall and pulls it within a half game of league leader Klahowya (4-0, 9-0).

Port Townsend (1-3, 2-6) and Chimacum (0-5, 0-6) round out the standings, and, with the loss, the Cowboys can’t finish ahead of Coupeville.

If both teams were to take opposite paths and somehow end up tied at 4-5 in league play at the end of the season, the Wolves would own a tiebreaker for winning the season series.

While Tuesday’s game wasn’t a romp like the first time the schools played — back then Coupeville strolled to a 7-2 win — it showcased the Wolves at their gritty best.

Kalia Littlejohn found the back of the net early in the game to stake CHS to a lead, but the plucky Cowboys responded with a pair of goals to shake things up.

“After that we settled down and got our defense in order,” Coupeville coach Kyle Nelson said.

Littlejohn banged home her 15th goal of the season midway through the first half to knot the game at two, and that’s where it stayed for quite some time.

Coupeville had numerous second-half opportunities, but the Cowboys escaped time and again, until Sage Renninger broke the defense.

The senior captain rifled a “well-taken corner kick” and put it on Wright’s toe, allowing the young sharpshooter to flick it past the net-minder with “a great finish.”

It was Wright’s eighth score of the season, leaving her just two shy of the team single-season record for goals by a freshman.

That mark of ten goals was set two years ago by none other than Littlejohn.

Now midway through her junior season, Kalia’s two-goal night Tuesday pulls her to 33 career goals, two back of older sister Mia, who scored 35 from 2014-2016.

With the win, the Wolves, who have back-to-back non-league tilts against 2A schools Port Angeles and Sequim up next on the schedule, improved to 3-1 in one-goal games this season.

While he might have preferred another romp, a win is a win, especially when it comes against a rival, something Nelson could appreciate.

“Another league victory, so it was a good night, even if it was close,” he said.

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Two sports, a billion pics!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   With a flick of her fingers, Zoe Trujillo sends another winner away to find a new home on the opposite side of the net. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

   It’s not the sound of thunder, it’s just Kalia Littlejohn kickin’ the crud out of the soccer ball.

Maddie Vondrak (far left) knows exactly where the cameraman is hiding.

Raven Vick unleashes all the fury, all the power.

Wolf defender Mallory Kortuem gets the ball out of town as quickly as possible.

   When Lauren Bayne goes for the ball, the smart rival simply backs off and says, “Yep, you got it. Just ignore me.”

   Kyla Briscoe (left) warms up Mikayla Elfrank’s hittin’ hands during pre-game festivities.

Properly warmed-up, Elfrank gets medieval on the Eagles.

The action kept John Fisken hopping.

With volleyball and soccer games going on at the same time in Coupeville Tuesday, the intrepid photo god bounced up and down S. Main, hitting every activity, camera in hand.

The photos above are courtesy him, but are just the tip of the iceberg.

To see everything he shot, pop over to the links below.

And, when you do, remember this — every purchase helps fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes.

Plus, if he sells some pics, he’s even more likely to make the trek up from Oak Harbor the next time the Wolves are playing.

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Volleyball/2017-09-26-vs-Klahowya/

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-2018-Coupeville-Soccer/2017-09-26-vs-Klahowya/

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Scoring, like never before!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , on September 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Sophomore Avalon Renninger is one of seven Wolf booters to score this season, keeping Coupeville on a record-setting pace. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The goals are rattling home at a record pace.

Coupeville High School’s girls soccer squad has placed the ball in the back of the net, sometimes with a little help from its rivals, 29 times through the first seven games this season.

The Wolves haven’t reached the halfway point of the regular season yet — that comes Tuesday against Klahowya — but have already topped their offensive output from six of the past eight seasons.

Looking at the stats one can find on the Olympic League site, you can go back to the 2009 season, and this is how CHS has finished each season:

2009 — 15 goals
2010 — 16
2011 — 6
2012 — 8
2013 — 11
2014 — 18
2015 — 33
2016 — 47
2017 — 29 (and counting)

Coupeville’s goal-scoring renaissance can be directly linked to the arrival of Mia Littlejohn and Sage Renninger in 2014, followed by the addition of Kalia Littlejohn and Lindsey Roberts a year later.

The record-setting 2016 season was sparked by Mia Littlejohn racking up a school single-season record 27 goals.

This year, with her big sister having moved on, Kalia Littlejohn is on pace to both break Mia’s single season and career marks.

The junior sharpshooter has 13 goals in 2017, and 31 for her career (just four off Mia’s record).

After that comes Abraham Leyva, who tallied 45 career goals for the Wolf boys.

CHS scoring totals this season:

Kalia Littlejohn – 13
Genna Wright – 5
Lindsey Roberts – 4
Avalon Renninger – 2
Lauren Bayne – 1
Sage Renninger – 1
Ema Smith – 1

But wait, that’s 27 goals, not 29, you say.

There’s a simple explanation for that — Sage Renninger scares people.

Twice this season Coupeville’s senior captain has whipped laser shots on corner kicks and caused harried defenders to accidentally deflect the ball past their keepers for “own goals.”

And yes, Sage rightfully got assists on both plays for forcing the situation.

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