The Islander Boys Water Polo Team won four consecutive games and their own ‘America’s Finest City’ Invitational over the weekend. Junior forward Sean Castillo was named tournament MVP, junior forward Jesse Farquhar scored 15 goals in four games, and sophomore forward Eric Clapper’s defensive efforts earned him a spot with Farquhar on the All-Tournament First Team. The four victories en route to the title included an 11-7 win over Crespi Carmelite; a 13-7 affair with Burlingame; another 13-7 win over Los Altos; and a 7-5 victory over the Menlo School in the title game. The Islanders are now 5-1 on the season. Last week Head Coach Randy Burgess previewed the tournament by saying that Menlo would be hard to beat as they featured a fine goalie in Jimmie Sandman. Proving Burgess correct, one week later Sandman had 15 saves and held Coronado to a 6-21 shooting effort from the field. "The final game was very well-played," said Burgess of the tournament finals. "We went up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and Farquhar had three of the goals. That changed their game plan somewhat. Farquhar did a really nice job of establishing the offense. Sean did a nice job and Eric played really strong defense throughout the tournament."The balance of the scoring against Menlo came from Castillo with two goals, with Drew Ratcliffe and Preston Luhan contributing one goal each. Other tournament highlights included: seven goals for Farquhar in the quarter-final game vs. Burlingame; freshman Jacob Smith made four steals and drew three ejections in one of the early games; Dylan Carr’s solid play in goal, including six saves in the semi-finals and seven saves against Menlo; junior John Landon scoring three goals against Crespi; and the first varsity goal of his career by sophomore Pedro de la Fuente on a penalty shot in the Crespi game. Coming off of a 16-7 loss a week ago to Newport Harbor, Burgess wasn’t sure what to expect going into tournament play. "I was pleased they came together this quickly and we have a lot of guys that I am expecting more out of. It’s nice to see us continue to get stronger and our team began to solidify a little bit. We went into the tournament with just two games under our belts, while other teams had already played five or six games. I’m happy we played as a team."

This week the going gets tougher yet with three Western League contests, including a Tuesday afternoon game at The Bishop’s School at 3 pm; a Friday evening game vs. La Jolla at the Coggan Family Pool at 7 pm; followed closely by an 8 am game Saturday morning vs. USDHS at the Bud Kearns Pool.

The Islander Football team ventured out on the road for the first time this season, traveling to Point Loma for a 3 pm game Friday and came home on the short end of a 15-8 score. The Pointers scored at the 10:27 mark of the first quarter, due in large part to an Islander turnover on their first play from scrimmage. Neither team scored again until the 4:34 mark of the third quarter, when the Islanders scored on a six-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by a 30-yard run by Kelcey Fisher and a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Loving to fullback Nick Shepherd. Fisher then scored on a two-point conversion attempt, driving his legs, twisting and spinning until he crossed the goal line.The Islanders kept the Pointers out of the end zone until mid-way through the final frame, when Point Loma scored on an eight-yard pass play and a subsequent two-point conversion. That completed the scoring in the contest. "They were very disciplined and very well coached," said Islander Head Coach Bud Mayfield of the Point Loma team. "We gave them too much and we made some fundamental mistakes. We did some things that we have been trained not to do and I think it made a difference. Our defense played really well and played really hard. They were a good team and I think they’ll go on to win the Western League and have eight or nine wins."Point Loma employs an offense called ‘The Fly,’ which is a variation of the old ‘Winged T’ offense, a ball-control ground attack. The running backs run to the sidelines to stretch the defense and then cut up field. Mayfield said of the unusual offense, "it’s around out there. But there aren’t six teams out of 88 in the county that run that. We had 3 days to get ready for it. But when you hold somebody to 15 points you can win. We basically game them a touchdown on the first play of the game. We knew it would be close, but we were disappointed that we didn’t come out on top. There are tough games ahead, like this one."Fisher gained 58 yards on nine carries, Shepherd had 36 yards on five carries and Loving threw for 39 yards, including the touchdown pass to Shepherd. For his efforts at fullback and middle linebacker, Shepherd earned ‘Black Shirt’ honors for the team as player of the game. "He played sideline to sideline on defense," said Mayfield of Shepherd. "And he played well on offense."Mayfield also noted the constantly improving play of Fisher in the tailback position. "He had a great run on the two-point conversion. He’s a darned determined runner and he’s going to be a good one. With more games and repetitions he’ll learn to see where to cut and when to accelerate. He definitely has the potential and he’s about as fast (a runner) as we have."Defensive ends Jack Scott and Kyle McArthur also earned praise from Mayfield. "They were really on the spot the whole game and they did really well under the circumstances. That’s a tough offense for them to perform well against. This is the first year for both on the varsity level at defensive end."Another key play in the game were turned in by defensive back Jon Maskevich, who kept Point Loma out of the end zone with an athletic, leaping pass interception with 4:10 remaining in the first half. Punter Ryan Cummins had an interesting day playing the wind current that blew through the Pointer stadium, with punts of 16, 60, 56, 25 and 43 yards from scrimmage. His average of 40 yards per kick is outstanding at the prep level. Next week the Islanders host the Scripps Ranch Falcons of the Eastern League, which employs a pro-style passing offense. The Falcons are 1-2, coming off of a 30-0 loss to La Jolla. They also lost to Westview 24-0 and defeated Southwest 28-17. Coronado is now 2-1 on the season, after victories over Francis Parker and Mar Vista, combined with the Point Loma loss.

"They throw," said Mayfield of the Scripps Ranch game plan. It should be a good game, but we’ll be ready. With the near miss last week, it perked us up to know the level we have to reach to win. We’ll be ready." The JV game against Scripps Ranch starts at 4:30 pm, with the varsity game slated for 7:30 pm.

Phil Trotter, the head coach of the Islander Girls Volleyball Team was frank about his team’s effort over defending Eastern League champion Our Lady of Peace last week, a 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory on Coronado’s home floor. "For the most part, we didn’t play well as a team," Trotter said. "But we have enough talent to squeak it out. We had what it took at the end to beat a good team. Then we came back Friday vs. Mt. Carmel and played our best match of the year against them."The latter match, played on the road, resulted in a 25-12, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21 victory over a historically strong volleyball program. The victory ran the Islanders record to a fine 9-2 mark for the year.

Islander middle blocker Jacy Norton had 22 kills against Mt. Carmel, but it was the diversity of the attack that pleased Trotter most. "The team really came together. Jamie Klages got into the action and Kelly Phelps really played a great game. Along with Deidre Kelly, they all reached double digits in kills.

Caitlin Kennedy played really well on Friday. She served great and played great defense. Megan Mushovic was the key to our win over OLP. Both Ashley Copp and Emily Howe continue to play well. The key to our success is to play as a team. If we play decent defense, we’ll be able to compete against good teams."

This week Eastern League play continues for the Islanders as they have an early week game at Serra and then host San Diego High School Thursday at 3 pm.

The Girls Golf Team gave as good as they got last week, splitting two matches. The week started with a 252-326 victory over Patrick Henry at Mission Trails Golf Club, with medalist honors going to Lorena Ascolani, who shot a 42. Older sister Monica Ascolani and Alexi Sanchez both shot a 46 to help lead the Islander attack. A non-league match followed later in the week against La Jolla High School, which bested Coronado 228-246 on the Torrey Pines South Course. This time Monica Ascolani led the Islander effort with a 43, followed by Lorena’s 47 and a 48 from Sanchez. Head Coach Kari Weidner was pleased with the effort of freshman JoJo Robyn, who also shot a 47 against La Jolla. "If she stays at that level, it will really help the team."

This week, there are two early-week contests with a Point Loma vs. Coronado match at Balboa Monday, followed by a match against Scripps Ranch at Carmel Mountain Tuesday.

Although the Girls Tennis Team was 1-2 for the week, Head Coach Robbin Adair is pleased with his team’s progress. "We lost on the road Monday to Point Loma, but we played well in a 14-4 loss. Nine of the sets were very close and were decided by one service break. Justine Gordon won two of her three singles sets and Allie Gordon and Nicole Aponte won one set each."Adair left his normal doubles team rotation intact against Mira Mesa High School and emerged with an 11-7 victory, with the No. 1 team of Elizabeth Hopkins/Justine Gordon and the No. 2 team of Lorena Hernandez/Alicia Ruiz winning three matches each and the No. 3 doubles tandem of Loren Metzger/Christina Paad winning one set. Match wins were also posted by Allie Gordon, Aponte and Maggie Lewis. The best team in Division II and in the Western League is La Jolla High School and they defeated Coronado 17-1 Thursday. La Jolla has a mixture of young and veteran players, many of whom own impressive rankings in Southern California Juniors play. Maggie Lewis emerged with the lone point against La Jolla. "They are actually stronger than they were a year ago," said Adair. "They have six freshmen playing in front of three returning players from last year."

The Islanders play OLP at Morley Field in an early-week match, followed by a match Thursday with USDHS in Coronado and a home match against El Capitan on Friday.