Freshman Carolyn Lhamon, launching an impressive long ball, came within an inch of scoring Tuesday against King’s stellar varsity defense. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Brekyn Clark collected an assist in the JV game, as Coupeville and King’s combined rosters and played a one-goal thriller.
“I think this might be the best girls team I’ve had here.”
No matter what the win/loss record says, Coupeville High School girls soccer coach Kyle Nelson has never swayed in his belief in his injury-plagued, but resilient players.
Tuesday night made for rough sledding for the Wolves, as they welcomed one of the premier 1A programs to town, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 7-0 rumble with visiting King’s.
The loss drops CHS to 0-6 in North Sound Conference play, 0-8-2 overall, but it is still just a game off of a playoff berth.
After facing the high-powered Knights, who have been a regular visitor to the state tournament, the schedule gets much, much easier over the next week.
Coupeville heads to Port Townsend Thursday for a non-conference tilt with an 0-8 RedHawk team which has only scored in one game, before hosting Sultan (1-5 in league, 1-8-2 overall) Tuesday, Oct. 15.
The Turks nipped the Wolves 1-0 on turf in Sultan the first time around. Playing on regular grass in front of its home crowd, the chance for Coupeville to net some revenge is huge.
And necessary, if CHS wants to remain in the race for the fifth, and final playoff berth out of the six-team NSC.
While Tuesday’s tango might have seemed one-sided on the scoreboard, if the Wolves can bring the same energy they had against King’s, anything is possible.
“They played hard all game long against a very tough opponent,” Nelson said. “I never saw any hanging of heads, which I’m very happy with.
“From start whistle to end whistle, they competed.”
The Wolves also came close to puncturing a strong Knights defense which has collected six shutouts in 10 games.
“We definitely had a lot more shots on goal than the first time around, which is really good,” Nelson said. “We were inches away from scoring on them.”
Coupeville’s best chance came on a free kick awarded after a Wolf player was sent sprawling by a rival.
Freshman Carolyn Lhamon took the shot, and emulating former Wolf Jennifer Spark’s bionic leg, crushed a high, arcing ball which curved away from the King’s goalie as it picked up speed.
Unfortunately, the curve was just slightly too far, as the ball slammed off the far post, then rebounded to a teammate who immediately fired again, only to send the ball just wide on the right.
“Close, very, very close,” Nelson said with a small smile.
King’s got on the board less than 70 seconds into the game, slapping in a short shot, then followed that up with three more scores in the first half.
Wolf goaltender Mollie Bailey turned away her fair share of shots, including making a sensational diving save to deny a Knights player who had a one-on-one breakaway and seemed destined to hit pay-dirt.
Sprawling to her right at the last second, the 25th generation (give or take a generation) Coupeville native hit the turf, slid, and snared the ball, pulling it to her chest and not letting go while almost being stepped on by the rampaging shooter.
That play was symbolic of how the Wolf defense played all night.
King’s, with its band of club ball pros, can hit from anywhere, and came in waves, hitting one goal on the third rebound, as Bailey stopped back-to-back shots in rapid-fire motion before being unable to twist into a pretzel fast enough to deny the final shot.
But she and CHS defenders such as Tia Wurzrainer and Nezi Keiper stood tall, fighting for every ball, and frequently forcing the Knights out of their comfort zone.
On one play, a King’s player came curling in from the right side, seemingly with an open shot, only to be met by Wurzrainer, who hip-checked her into the stands to a mighty roar from the Wolf faithful.
Along with Lhamon’s blast, the Wolves got several shots on goal from Avalon Renninger, including one from distance, which curved just wide at the last second.
Coupeville also got strong attacks out of Mallory Kortuem and Audrianna Shaw.
JV mixes things up:
The Wolves only had six JV players in uniform, so King’s offered up a couple of players to even out the sides, and the teams played to what would be a 3-2 win for the “bad” Knights over the “good” Knights/Wolves.
Since it was regarded as a friendly, the loss doesn’t affect Coupeville’s record.
Both CHS goals were knocked in by rented players, with Wolf Brekyn Clark assisting on the first score.
Also seeing action for the Wolves were Lily Leedy, who came dangerously close to scoring on a second-half shot, and Izzy Wells, Camryn Clark, Anna Myles, and goalie Katelin McCormick, who snagged several nice saves.
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