Wearing black jerseys, South Whidbey held a pseudo-funeral Tuesday for its past ineffective offense against its island rival Coupeville.

Three goals are the most scored in a single game by South Whidbey this season.

The Falcons rumbled to a 3-0 win that secured their place in the 1A District 1 playoffs. Maia Sparkman, a senior co-captain, stepped from defense to offense and recorded her first career “hat trick,” scoring each goal for South Whidbey.

“Against some of the better teams, it made sense to play her in the back,” said Falcon head coach Ben Rusch. “She runs well with the ball and plays good passes.”

Defensively, South Whidbey pushed their players up and were able to keep Coupeville on its half of the field much of the game. It was one of only three shutout wins by South Whidbey this year, and the second shutout against Coupeville.

Possessing the ball with on-point passing proved critical to South Whidbey’s success. Rusch said his team worked well moving the ball away from Coupeville’s forwards and midfielders and was able to put pressure on the Wolves’ defense.

“It really paid off for us.”

On Thursday, South Whidbey fell in the final minutes to Lakewood, 3-2. The Falcons held the Cougars to 1-0 by halftime and quickly answered in the second half. Falcon junior Olivia Bolding took a pass from Sparkman through the defense and scored, tying the match at 1-1.

Lakewood answered and held onto a 2-1 lead until the 65th minute. Falcon sophomore Annie Lux knocked in her first goal of the year with a header off a corner kick by Sparkman to knot the game at two goals a piece.

Lakewood turned up its offensive pressure in the waning minutes and eventually scored on South Whidbey, winning 3-2.