Wolf captain Uriel Liquidano sacrifices his head for the team. (John Fisken photo)
There was one truly electrifying play in Friday afternoon’s Coupeville vs. Port Townsend soccer showdown.
Unfortunately, it was pulled off by the visiting RedHawks, and not the Wolves.
Just about six minutes into the Olympic League clash, the guys in red took control of the ball right in front of their own net.
Then, bing-bang-boom, they pulled off a rare coast-to-coast run, using a string of slick passes to pierce the Wolf defense on a run straight up the gut, finishing their jaunt with the ball landing with a plop in the right corner of the net.
In a sport where the ball usually shoots off in a new direction every 0.2 seconds, as it skips off of knees, elbows or groins, pulling off the equivalent of a straight-ahead basketball fast break is fairly rare.
But, like I said, wrong team, wrong result, and it set up a 3-0 win for Port Townsend, which left the home fans a little crestfallen.
It was the second straight game Coupeville has failed to score, and the loss drops the Wolves to 1-2 in league play, 2-4-1 overall.
They sit in third place, trailing Klahowya (3-0) and Port Townsend (2-1), but still a game up on Chimacum (0-3).
CHS plays six of its final eight regular season games against league foes, but first gets a non-conference game Monday at Vashon Island.
After its Sports Center goal, Port Townsend added two far more ordinary scores to pad its lead.
The RedHawks hit a shot from the right side with 15 minutes left before the break, then got lucky early in the second half.
Coupeville was called for an inadvertent handball in the box, giving Port Townsend a gift-wrapped penalty kick which it converted.
The Wolves struggled to get their offense going, though did have a couple of near-misses from Zack Nall and William Nelson.
After watching his team play lethargically at times (having a half day at school leading into Spring Break seemed to sap a lot of energy early on), CHS coach Kyle Nelson was able to find a bright spot.
It came from the continued emergence of his defenders, many of whom are young, fairly inexperienced or both.
“We’re continuing to build a solid back four and they’re coming together,” Kyle Nelson said. “We saw some really good plays from them, especially in the second half.
“They’re gaining experience and confidence, and we’re happy to see that.”
To see more photos from this game (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes), pop over to:
http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Boys-Soccer/20170331-vs-Pt-Townsend/
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