Wolf defender Megan DePorter is ready to help carry her teammates to their first-ever playoff win. (John Fisken photo)
Into the great unknown.
When the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad opens the playoffs Saturday, the Wolves will be facing a foe they haven’t played before — at least on the pitch.
While CHS memorably clashed with Charles Wright Academy in a sometimes-brutal basketball playoff game last winter, the two schools don’t appear to have met on the soccer field before.
So, as you prepare for Soccerageddon 2016, here’s a cheat sheet.
What: District 3 girls’ soccer playoff game.
Where: Wildcat Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor (1 Wildcat Way), which is covered and seats 3,000.
When: 1:30 PM kickoff, Saturday, Oct. 29
$8 Adults/Non-ASB
$5 Students with ASB
$5 Sr. Citizens (62+)
$4 Elementary
At stake: Winner advances to face Nisqually League champ Cascade Christian Nov. 1 in the double-elimination round of districts, from which three of four teams qualify for state.
Lose Saturday and your season is done.
The bracket:
http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2068&sport=11
Records: Coupeville is 8-6-1, CWA is 6-8-1
Rankings: Coupeville is #23 in 1A on ScoreCzar, #180 in the state on MaxPreps. CWA is #25 and #126.
Goal differential: Coupeville outscored foes 47-29, while CWA nipped theirs 36-31.
Coaches: Troy Cowan (CHS) vs. Saraid Faville (CWA)
Common foes: None. They would have had one, but Bellevue Christian, which split games with CWA this season, cancelled its late season non-conference match-up with Coupeville because of “a shortage of players.”
BC is also in the playoffs, on the other side of the bracket, so the Wolves still might get that game, just with a lot more riding on the outcome.
So, you have the basics down cold. But what about the trivia, in case you need common ground to talk to a Charles Wright fan?
Boom.
CWA is a private K-12 school located in Tacoma. It’s associated with the Episcopal Church, but doesn’t push one religious doctrine to its 700+ student body.
It was founded in 1957 as an all-boys school. Opening with 40 students, it graduated its first senior class (14 of them) in 1964.
The school went co-ed in 1970 and is named after a guy who never stepped foot in our state.
Charles Barstow Wright was a Pennsylvania businessman who chose Tacoma as the Pacific terminus for the transcontinental railroad.
While the school is named in his honor, there’s never been a direct connection between the academy and the Wright family.
And lastly, but maybe most importantly, the school mascot is NOT a scruffy little dog, as CWA hails the Tarrier, not the Terrier.
And what’s a Tarrier?
It’s a name given to Irish workers who worked on building the railroad so important to the original Charles Wright, though it almost lost the mascot battle on day one.
Apparently there was a pretty heated fight back in the day (1962 or so), with the runner-up being Hodag.
And if you wouldn’t have been super excited to have your school mascot be named for a legendary 200-pound, seven-foot-long lizard with razor sharp spikes for teeth which (allegedly) stalked lumberjacks, there’s just something wrong with you.
The Hodag monster was “the living embodiment of deceased lumber oxen, filled with rage and hatred towards mankind for forcing upon them an enslaved existence during their previous life” and you can read much more here:
https://exemplore.com/cryptids/Hodag-Monster-Urban-Legend-Or-Real-Life-Cryptid
Sadly, Hodag lost out to Tarrier and the world was a less exciting place.
Though, there is this YouTube video:
Coupeville Sports 