Carolyn Lhamon pushes the ball upfield in pre-pandemic times. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
New league, new dreams.
With the pandemic, it’s been a bit since the Coupeville High School girls soccer team has competed together as a unit.
That would be fall of 2019, and a lot has changed since then.
CHS moved from 1A to 2B, joined the Northwest 2B/1B League, and top scorer Genna Wright has recovered from a devastating leg injury which erased 98.2% of her junior season.
Now, Wright is back to torch nets again, the Wolves are on what should be a more level playing field, and coach Kyle Nelson is only leading one Coupeville soccer program.
The move to 2B brings boys soccer into the same season as girls soccer — technically the fall, but being played this school year from April to May — with the pitch guru opting to step down as boys coach.
While former assistant Robert Wood takes the reigns of that program, Nelson is ready to bound back into action with the Wolf girls as they head into new waters.
“I am thrilled to have left some of those 1A schools behind,” he said. “In soccer we were facing schools that were sending off some of their seniors to go play at Division I schools, not something we were ever able to compete with.
“Now, each school is on a fairly even playing field.”
In this pandemic-shortened season Coupeville will face NWL mates Friday Harbor, La Conner, and Mount Vernon Christian three times each, with five of nine games at home.
“From our past experience with these schools, all the games we have played against them have usually been good contests where either team could have been the winner,” Nelson said. “Looking forward to going into all of our games knowing that we could win that game.
“Friday Harbor and Mount Vernon Christian could both be strong,” he added. “But, since it has been a year and a half since any of us have played, it really could be anyone.”
And there’s no reason to think these Wolf booters can’t be the first CHS soccer team to capture a conference crown.
“Our first goal is not any different than any other year, and that is to have some fun,” Nelson said. “Since there will be no playoffs, a league title will be our team goal.”
Sophie Martin shows off some wicked skills.
Leading the pursuit of that goal will be a group of players with years of experience on the pitch.
Nelson’s three captains are seniors Mollie Bailey and Genna Wright, along with junior Mary Milnes.
Bailey anchors the Wolf defense in goal, with Milnes and sophomore Nezi Keiper holding down the back line.
Midfielders Sophie Martin, a junior, and super sophomore Carolyn Lhamon will be joined by Wright and junior Eryn Wood, who lead the Coupeville attack.
Martin rattled home four goals in 2019, while Wright enters play this season tied for third-place all-time on the CHS girls scoring chart.
With 10 goals as a freshman and another seven as a sophomore, she sits with 17 goals, the same figure thrown down by former Wolf star Lindsey Roberts.
Wright is chasing Mia (35 goals) and Kalia Littlejohn (33 goals) for the career record.
While he has a strong core of returning players to lean on, Nelson also looks forward to seeing which other Wolves accept the challenge and rise to prominence.
“I am sure we will have some athletes that will be stepping up for us to cover key positions, but at this point I am not sure I can identify them,” he said.
“It has been awhile since we have really had a full team out there playing, and it will be fun to see who is ready to take it to the next level.”
However the roster spots break down, Nelson is ready to roll.
“We bring back quite a bit of experience all over the field,” he said. “We just need to bring the pieces together to form a cohesive unit.
“This could prove to be tricky in such a short season, but we will give it our best effort.”
Mollie Bailey clears the goal.
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