Lauren Grove, seen here in an earlier game, made 26 saves Tuesday night while facing a barrage of shots. (John Fisken photo)
Lauren Grove was phenomenal.
Otherwise, Tuesday’s highly-anticipated battle between the top two soccer programs in the 1A Olympic League did not go as Coupeville would have liked.
Despite Grove’s 26 saves in goal, the Wolves fell 3-0 at Klahowya and dropped out of a first-place tie with the Eagles.
The two-time defending champs, who have never lost in 15 league games stretched across 2+ seasons, controlled the pace of the game from start to finish and rained down shots on Coupeville’s net-minder.
“She made amazing saves,” said CHS coach Troy Cowan. “An incredible 89.55167 save percentage — one of the best displays of soccer goalie play I have ever seen!
“Lauren was like Wilt Chamberlain tonight in the box,” he added. “Even the three that got by he would have missed.”
Klahowya (3-0 in league, 5-0-1 overall) was the first team to shut down Wolf forward Mia Littlejohn, whose 16 goals tie her for the state lead.
With little room to move or create, her string of six straight games with a goal came to an end, and Coupeville (2-1, 4-2-1) suffered.
While the Wolves weren’t able to get the ball in the net, they did benefit from giving a freshman a chance to shine in a new position.
With senior Megan DePorter having moved into the starting lineup on defense, Cowan shifted Tia Wurzrainer up front against Klahowya and liked what he saw.
“The other positive was a terrific discovery! Tia can play striker,” Cowan said. “We did a ton of running tonight and my starting forwards needed a blow so I put Tia up top and she really shined.
“Pressure was great and she had multiple shots and made some timely through balls,” he added. “I will be trying to get her more time up top so we can help Mia eradicate the single-season scoring record!!”
Coupeville has five games to play, including two league tilts, before it gets another crack at Klahowya.
When they do, the Wolves will face the Eagles twice in a five-day span, hosting them Oct. 18, then traveling to Silverdale Oct. 22.
“We had an off night and I wish we could call a mulligan but we can’t,” Cowan said. “So we will keep working hard and be ready for them visiting us.”
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