Junior captain Lillian Ketterling is a key part of Coupeville’s resurgence on the soccer pitch. (Monica Grant photos)
It’s a whole new ball game.
Having brought their program back from the dark days, Coupeville High School girls’ soccer captains Taylor Marrs and Lillian Ketterling basked in the glow of victory Wednesday night.
Having beaten visiting Providence Classical Christian 3-0 in a game in which the Wolves dominated from start to finish, the CHS booters sit at 1-0-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-0-1 overall.
That has Coupeville in a tie for second place with Lopez Island, nipping at the heels of league leader Friday Harbor (2-0, 2-2), with another home clash set for Friday night, this time against Orcas Island (0-3, 0-4).
The victory came in front of a robust crowd, which, sparked by the CHS boys’ soccer players, outshouted a fairly enthusiastic PCC fan section in a friendly, but spirited, back-and-forth.
There was genuine electricity crackling in the prairie air, with the still very-young Wolf booters noticeably gaining confidence with each game.
A program which was shut down for two seasons (2023 and 2024) due to low numbers was pulled back from the abyss by coaches Jasmine Ader and Jerry Helm.
But most of all by players like Ketterling, who started her high school career playing on a boy’s squad, and Marrs, who has fought back from injury to claim her spot in the starting lineup.
Taylor Marrs reminds folks just who is in charge around here.
Now, not only are the Wolves back, but they’re already hitting new heights and dreaming big dreams.
“We continue to improve so much as a team,” Ketterling said. “At first, having a chance to make it to state seemed like it wasn’t in the picture. Now, we believe we have a real chance.”
The Wolves, who have no seniors, are deep in talented freshmen and 8th graders, with strong groups of young girls coming up the pipeline.
Scarlet Barnes is part of a team on the rise.
The current group features numerous players who can rattle home goals, and a defense which made life extremely easy for Wolf goalie Finley Helm against Providence.
The freshman netminder barely had to move Wednesday, plucking a couple of balls out of the air and off the ground, while not having to make any dramatic saves.
That’s because players like Marrs, Bella Sandlin, Olivia Hall, Bettie Woolworth, and the Goldman sisters — Hazel and Hailey — went virtually lights-out on any PCC shooters who tried to wander over the midfield line.
Marrs praised the rapid growth of her team’s defense in her post-game analysis, and it was evident in the play of the Wolves.
That left Coupeville not needing all that much offense to win the game, but the Wolves still made sure to fill up the net.
Fab frosh Ariella Lee-Spaulding, in her second season of varsity ball, opened the scoring, winning a wild battle in front of the net 13 minutes into the game to put CHS up 1-0.
Ariella Lee-Spaulding has places to go and goals to score.
The score stayed there until the two teams were in stoppage time right before the end of the first half.
Taking advantage of the Twilight Zone atmosphere created by the clock being frozen with two minutes to play while only the main ref knows how much time is really left, the Wolves struck for two game-busting goals in a matter of mere seconds.
The first came off the foot of Lee-Spaulding, who cranked home the third score of her prep career, followed by Hall tapping in a shot that caromed off of a rival player and into the back of the net for her first high school goal.
There was no scoring in the second half, but not for lack of trying.
Lyla Grose, Lucy Schisel, and Ketterling peppered the PCC goalie with a hail of shots, but none would quite slip through and hit paydirt.
The hometown fans were still entertained, especially with Ketterling’s noteworthy dribbling and footwork.
Running the length of the field, she darted and dazzled, spinning rival players around, sliding past them, and thoroughly confusing anyone foolish enough to think they could steal the ball away.
As if.
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