Lincoln Wagner (22) stands tall on defense. (Jacob Lujan photo)
You can be a one-trick pony if it’s a great trick.
The Mount Vernon Christian boys’ soccer squad seemed to have one play in its playbook Saturday, but dang if the Hurricanes didn’t run it really well, all the way to capturing a 4-1 win over host Coupeville in a key Northwest 2B/1B League clash.
The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Wolves and drops them to 4-1 in conference action, 7-3 overall.
Coupeville remains in second place in the ten-team NWL, however, trailing two-time defending state champ Orcas Island (5-0) by three points, while remaining three points up on a logjam between MVC (3-1), Providence Classical Christian (3-1), Friday Harbor (3-2), and La Conner (3-2).
Next up for the Wolves is another home rumble, this one coming Tuesday against Grace Academy, which sits at 0-4 in league play. Kickoff is 6:00 PM.
And that MVC “trick?”
A well-executed play in which a ‘Cane with a howitzer for an arm threw an inbounds pass in from somewhere up around Tacoma, the ball zipping over the heads of the defenders to where a pack of tall Mount Vernon players lingered around the net.
To a man, the Hurricanes were adept at using their noggins, knocking in at least three of their four goals on headers.
It might have been four-for-four, but one score came in the middle of a particularly vibrant scrum, with bodies jammed together like everyone was in a mosh pit, and the view from up above in the press box was not definitive.
Suffice it to say the goal went in, whether off of a head or a leg, or maybe a kneecap or a well-placed posterior, as the visitors ultimately turned a 1-0 deficit into a comfortable win.
Coupeville had actually opened the scoring just a hair under two minutes into play, busting through the ‘Cane defense with a torrid rush up field.
Shiloh Sandlin lofted a long ball to Edmund Wilson, and the quicksilver Wolf spun his man around, beat him to the net and smashed home his tenth goal of the season, the ball ricocheting off the netminder’s hands.
It was the 18th career goal for the junior and allows him to break a tie with Ethan Spark and move into sole possession of fifth place on the CHS boys career scoring chart, two back of William Nelson for #4.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, that would be the only goal they would net on this day, as a physical MVC defense clamped down and made room to move with the ball tough to find.
Coupeville responded in kind, with defenders such as Brian Thompson, Wyatt Fitch-Marron, and Aiden Wheat chasing down every breakaway and frequently blunting potential attacks on the net.
While he would have preferred a win, CHS coach Jim Kunz praised his team, which overcame a number of injuries to hang with a top-level opponent. He and assistant coach Matt Sandlin picked freshman defender Lincoln Wagner as their player of the game.
“I’m happy with how we played,” he said. “They worked their tails off. And Lincoln was just solid from start to finish.”
