Ethan Spark, seen here last year, opened the 2017 season Saturday with a goal from midfield. (John Fisken photo)
Boo! Boo, I say.
Not to the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad, which came dangerously close to upending a 2A school on the road Saturday in its season opener.
But a hearty boo to the folks who issued the declaration non-conference soccer games should end in ties, with no chance of overtime and/or a winner-take-all shoot-out.
So, after a long, rainy trip to Bremerton, and a strong team-wide effort by a much-smaller school, Coupeville settled for a 2-2 stalemate with host Olympic.
This, people, is why soccer struggles to match the popularity of other high school sports among those fans who are not die-hard pitch fanatics.
Ties — the bane of all of our lives and pretty much the very definition of un-American.
If we get past my petty issues, though, the Wolves came out strongly to open the season.
Ethan Spark and William Nelson, the team’s leading returning scorers, immediately slipped right back into the groove, with each junior sharpshooter finding the back of the net.
Spark launched a ball from midfield which evaded the Olympic goalie, while Nelson used angles, smacking a ball off a foe’s shin guard for his first score of 2017.
The Coupeville defense, spearheaded by Uriel Liquidano, Uriah Kastner, Axel Partida and Josh Robinson, held up well against their 2A opponents, while goalies Mathew Shreffner and Brian Roberts shared time in net.
“We worked together to keep our game tied,” Roberts said. “It was a game to see; cold and wet, but a good game.”
Coupeville returns to action 4:30 PM Tuesday, when it hosts Chimacum in the league opener.
And yes, because it’s a conference game, we can guarantee one thing — no ties.
So, we got that going for us, which is nice.
Coupeville Sports 