Nick Guay knocked in a goal Friday to help spark a Senior Night win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was a nice change of pace.
Riding an emotional wave on Senior Night, the Coupeville High School soccer squad played its final home game of the season Friday afternoon and exited with a bang.
Blanking visiting La Conner 2-0, the Wolves snapped a three-game skid, giving their five veterans a final victory on the turf at Mickey Clark Field.
Now 3-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-5 overall, Coupeville isn’t done, as it still has a road game on Orcas Island Oct. 24.
And while playoff hopes are on life support, they’re not completely dead.
A lot will have to happen over the next couple of days to make that a reality, but, in the words of James Bond, “Never Say Never Again.”
When they took the pitch Friday, the Wolves knew they needed a win to fan the faint embers of their remaining playoff dreams, but they also wanted to win for other reasons.
The sixth win gives this year’s squad the most victories in coach Robert Wood’s four-year run at the helm.
Showing continued growth coming out of a pandemic and a moment where it appeared the program would be shut down for lack of players, the Wolves are going uphill.
They finished 1-5 during a Covid-shortened 2020 season, then 4-10, 5-9, and now sit at 6-5 this time around.
The core of the rebuild has been Coupeville’s seniors, with Andrew Williams and Nick Guay playing all four seasons for Wood.
Hank Milnes and Cole White joined later, with Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim returning to soccer for his senior season after several years away from the game.
Hank Milnes stands tall on defense. (Mia Farris photo)
The furious five-pack, with help from their younger counterparts, have been ranked as high as #4 in the state this season, and have the ability to impress when everything is clicking.
Facing a scrappy, if inconsistent, La Conner squad, the Wolves came hard, attacking the goal all night.
The only problem was the Braves goaltender played like a man channeling legendary Italian netminder Gigi Buffon (thank you, Google…), throwing his body 1,001 different directions while punching balls away in frantic fashion.
On one attack, the Wolves peppered the net with three shots in rapid succession, only to see them all deflected.
But Coupeville kept pressing, and finally broke through right before stoppage time in the first half.
Sophomore scoring sensation Ezra Boilek banged home a penalty kick, the ball finding the top left of the net to finally get a goal on the big board.
It was Boilek’s team-leading eighth score during his first season running the CHS pitch, and Coupeville’s defense made the tally stand up.
Wolf goaltender Hurlee Bronec was a little less flashy than his La Conner counterpart on this day, but ultimately more effective.
Making numerous saves, he refused to let the Braves earn any satisfaction, with some big-time help from his defense, which scrambled, juked, and jostled their way to a shutout.
Hurlee Bronec, keeper of the net. (Jackie Saia photo)
Coupeville’s fans wanted a second goal, to give their team a little breathing room, and White, who “puts in more miles than anyone” according to his coach, came dangerously close, sliding several balls just past the net.
The Wolves finally got the cushion thanks to Guay, who was the right man in the right place.
Wandering past the net, he got his head on a ball and banked it through a wall of defenders to set the final margin at 2-0.
It was Guay’s sixth goal of the season and the 14th of his CHS career.
That breaks a tie with former Wolf ace Aidan Wilson and cements the lanky Wolf senior as the #6 scorer in program history.
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