Good 'D' but no goals lead to Coupeville loss | Soccer

Good defense, no goals on offense has been the recipe lately for the Coupeville High School soccer team as it lost 2-0 to Cedarcrest at home Tuesday, Oct. 2.

Coupeville coach Dan d'Almeida said, "We are continuing our trend of shoring up our defense…it was the third match in a row the defense kept us in the game."

Cedarcrest defeated Coupeville 6-0 earlier this season.

It was also the fourth straight match the Wolves failed to score.

D'Almeida said, "We are building our attack, making progress, it just doesn't show up on the score sheet. We are putting more pressure on the goalies than in the past."

He added, "We have way more one-on-one opportunities, we just can't get them past the goal keepers."

Near misses have been abundant this fall, and the Wolves had another against Cedarcrest. Madison Tisa-McPhee drilled a shot off the cross bar.

"Had it gone in," d'Almeida said, "it would have been interested on how the match would have turned out."

Cedarcrest scored in the first half on a 30-yard floater, then sewed up the match with a goal with 12 minutes left.

The Wolves had several scoring chances in the first half, but adjustments by the Red Wolves at the break slowed the Coupeville attack.

Cedarcrest started to clamp down on Amanda d'Almeida in the second half, eliminating her through balls that threatened the Red Wolves the first 40 minutes.

Coach d'Almeida praised the overall play of Amanda d'Almeida and Tisa McPhee and the defense of Anna Bailey, who was "pressuring the ball…and leading the back line."

Coupeville (0-8, 0-10) hosts Lakewood (3-5, 3-6-1) at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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