Mount Vernon Christian exploited the inexperience of the Coupeville defense to come back from two goals down to tie the visiting Wolves 3-3 in the season soccer opener Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Coupeville cruised to a 3-1 halftime lead behinds goals by the Littlejohn sisters, Mia and Kalia, and Sage Renninger.

Coach Troy Cowan called the Wolves’ first-half play “dominant,” but the second half was a different story.

“The playing experience is awesome for the new players, but it can be painful to watch. I have to keep reminding myself…it’s part of the growing pains that a young team has to go through and that the game is always the best teacher. We will learn from our experiences and get better.”

Even with the struggles on the back line, the Wolves “played well for their first full match together,” Cowan said.

“The good news is there was a lot of good stuff going on too,” Cowan said. “The girls played really hard and left everything on the pitch.”

Cowan said the highlight was seeing captain Jennifer Spark return after missing most of last season with knee injury.

Cowan also like the play of keeper Lauren Grove, who he called the match’s MVP.

“She was a lion in that box,” he said. “For her first time in the box in forever and getting limited training, she did great. Coming off her line and attacking strikers with reckless abandonment, diving and crawling on the ground for every ball was really inspiring. She kept us in the match and ensured we didn’t lose.”

Grove finished with five saves.

Coupeville took 18 shots, led by Kalia Littlejohn with six and Mia Littlejohn with five.

Coupeville (0-0-1) plays at South Whidbey (0-0-0) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10.