Sparkling performances on both sides of the ball spurred the Coupeville High School soccer team to a 7-0 non-conference win over Concrete Saturday, Oct. 12, at Mickey Clark Field.
The Wolves struggled to score this season, pushing across only four goals in 10 previous matches. Three of the four came in one match, a win over Sultan.
The Coupeville offense came out of hibernation against the Lions (0-8), with Marisa Etzell and Makana Stone scoring twice, and Mickey Levine, Jennifer Sparks and Erin Rosenkranz adding one each.
Coach Troy Cowan said, “All seven goals were fantastic and memorable.” Two, however, he found “profound.”
Stone scored her second goal when she plucked the ball out of the air and put it in the corner with her left foot with “a great strike and perfect touch.”
The other highlight, according to Cowan, was Sparks’ score when she sent a 35-yard rocket that “nearly ripped a hole in the net.”
In addition, Cowan said, Spark “played her best match, consistently bringing the ball out from the defensive third and sending perfect through balls to our strikers.”
Levine added two assists to her goal, and Etzell was “on fire,” according to Cowan.
Etzell dominated her side of the pitch and provided “seven or eight beautiful crosses that caused havoc in Concrete’s 18,” Cowan said.
“Our girls played outstanding soccer and dominated the time of possession game,” Cowan said.
The defense shared the spotlight, according to Cowan: “Our defense not only provided a shutout, but our goalies (Julia Myers and Joye Jackson) were never really in any danger of surrendering a goal. Tori Wellman played particularly well and had a terrific match.”
Cowan credited much of the success of the Wolves to assistant coach Gary Manker: “Gary has been extremely instrumental working with the girls this year. He has a natural connection with them and has provided us with some excellent instruction and a key contributor to the team’s growth and overall success.”
The momentum will carry Coupeville (1-7, 2-8) into its homecoming week match with South Whidbey (2-7, 2-9) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Mickey Clark Field.
