Celebrating Senior Night and building momentum for the playoffs, the Coupeville High School soccer team finished the regular season with a 2-0 win over visiting Port Townsend Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Coupeville (4-2, 6-6-3), the second-place team from the Olympic League, now heads to the district tournament. The Wolves “host” Vashon Island (7-8-1), the Nisqually League’s No. 3 seed, in a loser-out match at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Oak Harbor’s Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

The contest is a rematch of last year’s district opener won by Vashon 3-0.

The winner of the Coupeville/Vashon Island battle joins three other teams in the double-elimination portion of the tournament and will play at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at a site to be determined.

The final round is Thursday, Nov. 5, at Orting Middle School. The top three teams earn state tournament berths.

The win over Port Townsend was a “great match, full of emotions and great moments, especially the halftime with the presentation of the seniors,” coach Troy Cowan said.

The key was controlling the pitch, possession and first touch, according Cowan.

Strong play by outside defenders Lauren Bayne and Lindsey Roberts set the tone for a solid match, Cowan added.

Freshman Kalia Littlejohn set a single-season school scoring record by tallying her 10th goal. May Rose also scored for the Wolves.

“I was getting dizzy watching her (Littlejohn) spin like a top out there,” Cowan said.

Rose’s goal came in a battle for the ball in the box. Kirsten Pelroy helped keep the ball alive, then Rose punched it home.

“May simply denied the goalie the ball,” Cowan said. “She is just relentless.”

Cowan also lauded the play of Arisbeth Montiel and Lauren Grove.

“Beth was extremely strong with her possession game last night and played really well,” he said, “keeping the ball at her feet and looking up when she needed to and finding her teammates’ feet, which was crucial and gave our forwards opportunities at making those runs at the keeper.”

Cowan called keeper Grove “flat out impressive” and “smart, instinctive, reliable and a little nuts.”

Asked by Cowan before the match if she was ready to go, Grove responded with “this is my destiny, this is where I belong” and backed it up with a shutout.

(Top: Arisbeth Montiel controls the ball for the Wolves. Middle: Lauren Grove snags a Redhawk shot. Below: Mia Littlejohn looks for an opening. Photos by John Fisken.)