Lightning, BC strike down Wolves / Soccer

By Jim Waller • May 5, 2017 1:30 am

Lightning struck more than twice as Mother Nature and Bellevue Christian teamed up to zap the Coupeville High School soccer team in a 1A District 3 play-in game Thursday, May 4, at Oak Harbor High School.

Thunder rumbled and so did the Vikings as they beat the Wolves 5-0 in the loser-out match that will be remembered more for the weather than the play.

Two 45-minute weather delays because of lightning strikes interrupted the contest. By rule, high school games must be delayed 30 minutes at the sight of lightning. The first came seconds before the opening kickoff and the second 24 minutes into the first half. Because of the delays, no break was held at halftime; the teams simply changed sides and continued to play.

Coupeville coach Kyle Nelson said the interruptions didn’t affect the Wolves’ game, then added, “We didn’t come out with intensity and they did.”

He noted that Bellevue Christian’s team speed bothered his club more than the weather.

“They were fast and we didn’t respond,” he said.

The Vikings produced their own lightning, striking for a goal within the first minute of the match. The score came from a header off a 35-yard free kick.

Bellevue Christian was awarded numerous free kicks in the contest to only one for Coupeville as the Wolves tried to slow the Vikings with aggressive play.

Coupeville produced a handful of shots throughout the match but couldn’t connect. The best opportunity came eight minutes into the game when the Viking keeper vacated the goal. The Wolves scrambled to take a shot, and, under heavy pressure, sailed the kick over the cross bar.

BC netted its second goal off a corner kick with 27 minutes left in the first half.

A minute after the first lightning delay, the Vikings looped in a 25-yard free kick to make it 3-0.

Bellevue Christian (6-8) added two more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Coupeville finished the season with a 4-11-1 record.

“I’m very happy with this group,” Nelson said. “I am pleased with the amount of effort they put in.”

“They worked hard and were fun to be around,” he added.

He said the team’s “tremendous growth” paints a “better picture of the year” than the outcome of BC match.

Nelson pointed to the Klahowya matches as an example. Coupeville lost the first encounter with the league champions 7-0 and the second 5-0. In the third meeting, the Eagles won 4-1 but led only 2-1 until the final minutes.

Bellevue Christian, the fourth-place team from the Nisqually League, will move on to play Vashon Island, the second-place team from the Nisqually League, in another loser-out match Saturday, May 6.