The Journal of the San Juan Islands | SanJuanJournal.com
SPORTS
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 — 17
Wolverines clinch league title in OT FH outduels league rival La Conner in shootout; Place drills the game winner By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
The surge of butterflies was just about more than she could bear. But with an opportunity to strike the winning blow against their longtime rival, Friday Harbor’s Isabel Place fought off the intensity of the moment and drilled the ball into the back to lead the Wolverines to a dramatic overtime win at home, Tuesday, against La Conner. “It feels really good now,” said Place, who nailed the winning goal in a shootout knotted at 4-4 apiece in overtime. “But with so much pressure I felt like I was about to cry.” With the win, the Wolverines (7-0 league, 9-6 overall) swept their two-game season series against La Conner and with a victory two days later at Orcas, an 8-0 shutout, clinched the Northwest 1A/2B League title. They faced Mount Vernon Christian (4-2) Monday, Oct. 28, in their final game in league play. With the top spot the league standings at stake and the Braves looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Wolverines on their home field, Friday Harbor Coach Paul Hopkins expected Tuesday’s battle to be intense. It didn’t disappoint, he said. “For this rivalry it was another classic,” Hopkins said. “When we were in the shootout I was having a hard time breathing.” As with most classics, the match was marked by controversy as well, one which the La Conner faithful won’t be likely to dismiss anytime soon. With La Conner up by a point in the shootout, and the Wolverines in need of a goal to tie the score and force another round, Emily Guard struck a shot that missed wide to the right. Guard was
Young Wolverines prep for post-season The Friday Harbor volleyball team will open postseason play, Wednesday, with one of its youngest squads in recent memory and its best won-loss record in more than a decade. The Wolverines (5-1 league, 10-3 overall) will also carry into the 1A districts playoffs lessons learned after squaring off a week ago against two of the region’s premier volleyball teams, Division 2B powerhouse and Northwest 1A/2B League champ La Conner (11-0), and 1A foe Lynden Christian (11-1). They pushed the Lyncs to the brink of an upset in the third game of a three-game loss at home, Saturday, before falling 25-20 in the third. They gave the Braves, a perennial 2B state tournament team, all they could handle in the second game, a 26-24 defeat, of a threegame loss at home Oct. 22. In between losses to the Braves and Lyncs, Friday Harbor swept league opponent Shoreline Christian at home Oct. 24 to remain in the hunt with Darrington for sole possession of sec-
awarded another attempt, however, as the referee ruled that he had yet to signal “ready” with his whistle when Wolverines leading scorer had unleashed the failed kick. Guard drilled the ball into the net with the second attempt to even the score. With freshman Hayden Mayer defending the goal, Friday Harbor held the Braves scoreless in regulation and in the two 5-minute periods of sudden death that followed. Mayer, guarding the net in her first-ever shoot-out, faced six shots by the Braves, blocking one and watching another miss wide, which gave Place a chance to drive in the winning goal. “They were going right and they were going left, and I didn’t really know which way to react,” she said. “It was so nerve-wracking I could feel it in my stomach.” Next: Friday Harbor opens post-season play Wednesday, at the 1A district playoffs, at Kings High School, against Kings; match time is 4 p.m.
Contributed photo / Ted Strutz
The Wolverines celebrate after clinching the league title on the heels of a victory in overtime against La Conner, at home, Oct. 25.
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Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Friday Harbor’s Isabel Place, No. 9, battles for control of the ball in the Wolverines loss at home, Saturday, against Lynden Christian.
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IT’S ELECTRIFYING!
OPALCO CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON CATTLE POINT ROAD OPALCO is preparing to install 2.2 miles of conduit and facilities for a new underground feeder and distribution line from the intersection of Argyle Road and Pear Point Road south along Cattle Point Road to Little Road on San Juan Island. We hope to begin the project this fall, weather permitting, and work will likely continue through 2014. With all of OPALCO’s trenching projects, we make best use of every opportunity to share an open trench (and the costs of trenching), as well as include fiber—or empty conduit that is fiber ready. In this case, we will share the trenching with CenturyLink. This project will improve the reliability, efficiency and capacity of OPALCO’s electric distribution system in this area, improve the capabilities of OPALCO’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system by connecting a switch, and add fiber-optic capacity along the entire route.
Journal photo / Scott Rasmussen
Senior Kendra Meeker, above, leads a young Wolverines squad into post-season play beginning Wednesday, at Lynden Christian High School.
ond place in the final league standings. The Wolverines faced the Loggers (5-1 league) on the road Monday for a head-to-head battle for league runner up. Next: The Wolverines square off against the No. 4 seed of the Cascade Conference in the opening round of the 1A district playoffs, hosted by Lynden Christian High School.
The construction and trenching will be installed outside the travelled road surface but travelers and property owners along the construction corridor are asked to please be patient as the project gets underway. We apologize for any temporary inconveniences the construction may cause. To keep informed about construction projects, outages and other timely news, please: • sign up for our e-newsletter, The Co-op Connector (www.opalco.com/about/email-signup/) • follow “orcaspower” on Twitter (outage information) • engage with us on Facebook. We love to hear from you—and your posts can help us to serve you better. When you see our linemen out in the field, please give them a friendly wave; they are working to keep the power on for you!
www.opalco.com