Hurlee Bronec played arguably his best game as a goalie Tuesday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Soccer can be a cruel game sometimes.
Tuesday night, playing on Senior Night in front of a robust fan section, the Coupeville High School co-ed soccer squad put together one of its best performances of the season.
Facing off with visiting Providence Classical Christian, which finished 3rd at the state tourney a year ago, the Wolves crafted an often-brilliant defensive scheme.
But unfortunately for the hometown squad, the Highlanders matched that defensive effort while also slipping one goal through a tiny crack after 74 scoreless minutes to nail down a 1-0 win.
The loss drops Coupeville to 3-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-7-1 overall, though the Wolves still control their own playoff destiny.
The top four teams from the nine that play boys’ soccer in the NWL advance to the postseason, and CHS sits in fourth place with two games left to play.
The Wolves trail Orcas (6-0), Lopez Island (5-1) and PCC (4-2) and are tied with Mount Vernon Christian (3-3), a team it beat in a shootout thriller.
Friday Harbor (3-4), Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood (2-4), La Conner (2-5), and Grace Academy (0-6) bring up the rear, with eight games left on the regular-season schedule — four Friday and four Saturday.
Coupeville travels to La Conner Friday, then hosts Orcas Saturday for its contribution to the furious finale.
Play against those teams like they did against PCC, and the Wolves should be playoff-bound.
Senior goaltender Hurlee Bronec was magnificent in the net against the Highlanders, knocking away shots right and left, sliding across the field or elevating to poke balls over the top of the net.
He had major help, as a defense anchored by Dane Hadsall, Matthew Ward, Solomon Rudat, and Mason Butler stonewalled a PCC team which scored seven times in an early-season non-conference win against these same Wolves.
Solomon Rudat and Co. have two regular season games left on the schedule. (Bailey Thule photo)
Coupeville coach Kimberly Kisch praised the effort of her entire team, while giving some extra props to the defensive core.
“I’m so happy with all of the team,” she said. “Not a single player failed to give it all their effort, and they went whistle to whistle.
“Hurlee was fantastic tonight, and had some high-quality saves, and our defenders did a really good job of not letting Providence, which has some really strong scorers, have easy shots.”
Coming off the earlier loss to PCC on the road, the Wolves adapted by being much more aggressive offensively this time around.
While Coupeville never did find the back of the net, much of the credit for that has to be given to a Highlander defense which matched the Wolves in intensity and big-time saves from a spry goalie.
Cael Wilson, Preston Epp, and Angel Partida all had strong shots on goal, but were denied — often by mere inches — while the refs chose to swallow their whistles when Partida was knocked off his feet while on the attack late in the game.
Perhaps wanting the game to be decided in the open field, and not on a penalty kick, the officials otherwise called a fairly clean game.
The dam finally broke with just a hair over six minutes to play.
PCC was rumbling in front of the net, when David Knudsen crunched a well-hit kick from the middle which curled around the defense and splashed home to break the tie.
With the clock running down, Coupeville crashed hard in the final moments but couldn’t find a goal to force overtime despite its best efforts.
While the loss stings, Kisch exited beaming with pride over how the Wolves played in a game with massive playoff implications.
Coupeville didn’t lose, PCC made a gut-check play and won, and now CHS will move on, ready to keep chasing that playoff berth.
“It was a truly great game, and the scoreboard reflects that,” Kisch said. “I am very, very proud of our players.”
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