The CHS Boys Water Polo Team dove into their 2005 schedule in earnest last week, playing their first Western League game and then hosting the America’s Finest City Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday. On the surface, that may not sound like much of an undertaking, but the game count amounted to six contests played over a 4-day span.

Cathedral Catholic, currently being referred to as ‘Cath Cath’ by a regional sports publication, was the Islanders’ opponent in the first regular season home game played at the new Coronado Municipal Pool. Cathedral, formerly USDHS, played the role of a speed bump for Coronado as they blitzed the Dons 15-2. Sean Castillo led the Islander scoring stampede with four goals; Jacob Smith and Eric Clapper added three each; Daniel Pedrotty scored twice; and single goals were scored by Devin Farrell, Joe Moffitt, and Preston Lujan.

Assists, or passes which lead directly to a goal, were credited to John Landon with three; two each by Jackson Crow-Mickle and Farrell; and single assists went to Steven Sullivan, Scott Simeral, Castillo, Smith, and Lujan. Goalie Patrick Queisser was credited with five saves.

Play in the America’s Finest City tournament is somewhat unusual, in that the five games each team plays are spaced over only a two-day period. Contests are often played with only 2 hours rest and the format rewards consistency of effort.

Coronado opened with an easy 20-5 victory over Anaheim Western, in a contest played at 1 pm. In the 5 pm game, the Islanders defeated Ventura 11-5, but the game was closer than the score would indicate. Coronado trailed 2-1 at the conclusion of the first quarter and the game was tied 3-3 at the half. Ventura scored the first two goals of the second half to take a 5-3 lead.

The big play of the game was an exclusion drawn by Castillo and the subsequent man-up goal scored by Smith on an assist from Farrell. That goal would provide the momentum shift the Islanders needed, as they proceeded to run off eight straight goals. Jesse Farquhar, who has been battling knee problems off and on throughout the season, played big in this one, scoring three goals and drawing three exclusions. Queisser had 11 saves and four steals to anchor Coronado’s defensive efforts.

Saturday’s tournament play for Coronado began at 10 am with a 14-4 victory over Chaparral of Temecula. Lujan contributed four goals and three steals; Castillo added three goals; while Pedrotty and Clapper each scored twice. Farrell added four assists and three steals, while Landon had four assists and one steal. Queisser played the first half and was credited with six saves, while Kyle Pokorny was the designated net-minder in the second half and had four saves.

Over the summer, Coronado and The Menlo School, coached by Jack Bowen (CHS ’91) trained together extensively. At the 3 pm game between the two schools, Menlo got out to a big lead; Coronado rallied, but fell one goal short by the final score of 10-9. "That was a big game for us," said Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess. "We got down early and didn’t fold. We came back and played hard. That was an indicator of the type of team we’re going to be.

The loss relegated the Islanders to the third place game against the Mira Costa Mustangs. It also placed Islander Burgess in the unique position of possibly losing consecutive games to teams coached by his former players. The friendly adversary this time was Jon Reichardt (CHS ’85).

After playing to a 4-4 tie at halftime, Mira Costa scored the first two goals of the second half. With 1:25 remaining in the third quarter, junior Eric Clapper made a steal and went the length of the pool for a score. A scant 24 seconds later, Castillo scored on a counter-attack from a pass from goalie Pokorny to tie the game. With 8 seconds remaining in the quarter, Mira Costa scored and with one lone second remaining in the quarter, Jacob Smith scored on an assist from Castillo.

Goals from Lujan, Farrell and Farquhar gave Coronado a 10-7 advantage, before two goals in the final 90 seconds by Mira Costa brought the score to 10-9. The Mustangs had the ball and were a man up with 3 seconds remaining, before Farquhar made a steal to end the suspense and secure the Coronado victory.

Clapper and Lujan were named to the All-Tournament Team, a result that didn’t surprise Burgess. "They were clearly our most consistent players in the tournament. I thought the entire starting lineup of Clapper, Lujan, Castillo, Farrell, Smith, Landon and Queisser all did a really good job. Every game we’re continuing to learn about ourselves."

Burgess talked about the depth of the teams that played in the tournament, won by Harvard Westlake 7-6 over The Menlo School in the championship final. "Harvard Westlake, along with Long Beach Wilson and Newport Harbor, are the Top 3 teams in Southern California. Menlo is No. 1 in Northern California. They just beat Bellarmine Prep in the finals of their tournament. All of the teams that played in Coronado on Saturday (the championship bracket) were solid. We had great teams and great coaches. I have to pat our booster club on the back. They did a great job running a 32-team tournament. The event went real well in terms of management."

This week the Islanders host two of the Western League’s best squads. Wednesday at 3 pm, the Knights from The Bishop’s School journey to Coronado for the first meeting between the two schools this season. Friday at 3 pm, the Islanders host La Jolla.

The Christian Patriots invaded Coronado Friday evening. For years the long-time rivals played out of the Harbor League, but recent conference changes have placed Coronado in the Central Conference and Christian in the Coastal League. Regardless of where the teams play, this annual game is important to both squads.

Christian got on the board first with a 28-yard field goal. Coronado scored in the early going of the second quarter on a six-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Loving to tight end J.J. Pontes. After Kelcey Fisher converted on the extra point, from a Stewart Harris hold, the crowd sensed that Coronado was back in the game. Unfortunately it would prove to be the Islanders final score of the evening.

Coronado played hard throughout the contest, but seemingly every time Christian needed to convert on a third down and long yardage situation, or a fourth and long, the Patriots found a way to make it happen.

"Sometimes they got the first down by a foot or a few inches," said Coronado Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "We actually played deceivingly well. Our kicking game was excellent and the kick coverage team performed well. We only had one penalty for five yards. The difference was the two long plays (a 63-yard touchdown run from Lawrence Walker and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Kyler Dwyer to Trevor Fulkerson) and they just kept making first downs. We had the opportunity to run the ball 20 fewer times and we didn’t have the time to answer their scores. The number of first downs were the same (for both teams). It was a very close game."

"If we were able to get the ball back, it might have been a different game," Mayfield continued. "The irony is that (ball control) is what we usually do to other people. They played well. We played well. But, they played a little better."

Mayfield acknowledged the fine play of Kyle McArthur and Tim Sexton on the defensive side of the ball. "They both had great games. Unfortunately, the defense was on the field too much."

Christian improved their record to 3-1, while Coronado fell to 2-1 on the season.

This week the Islanders travel to Francis Parker for a Friday night game, scheduled for a 7 pm kick-off. Parker has recently upgraded their playing facilities, with an artificial turf field and new lights.

Mayfield talked about the Parker team. "They have an excellent quarterback and skill at the key positions of tailback, fullback and wide receiver. They run multiple offenses and they will throw deep. Parker is 4-0 and they always get up for us. Christian was intense about beating us. This will be our third rivalry game in a row (including Mar Vista two weeks ago), with two of them on the road."

Phil Trotter’s Girls Volleyball Team took to the court twice last week and won both of their matches. The first contest was a 25-18, 25-23, 25-8 victory over Morse. The second was a 25-22, 24-25, 26-24, 25-12 win against Mission Bay. Neither team is known as a volleyball powerhouse, but both have made strides this season.

"The whole league is up, actually," said Trotter. "Mission Bay played us very tough. Their coach said this is the best team Mission Bay has had in years. Also, Morse is a scrappy little team."

The victories improve Coronado’s record to 2-1 in the Eastern League and 5-4 overall.

Trotter discussed his players and their accomplishments. "Megan Mushovic played well and so did both Christy Mebust and Kelsey Fitzgerald. Kelly Phelps is a presence out there. She is hard for other teams to match up against. We got contributions from everybody, including a lot of bench players."

Wednesday the Islanders host Our Lady of Peace at 3:30 pm and then Monday they travel to Serra for a 3:30 pm contest. "OLP is good," Trotter said. "They are our main competition in the Eastern League. They are every bit as good as we are. We’re going to have to play hard to beat them. They are well-coached and tough to play against. We really need to pick up our defense. If we stay positive, we’ll do well."

Coronado’s Girls Golf Team arrived at Cottonwood Golf and Country Club last week and found that their opponents from Christian were without the necessary number of players (six) to field a team. So the Islanders and the short-handed Patriots played a round of golf, with Coronado winning by forfeit.

Wednesday the Girls played a home match at Coronado Municipal and defeated San Diego High School 258-402. "They are a new team," said Islander Head Coach Hanna Raine Cohan of the Cavers. "Their players seemed to be pretty green. Alexcie Sanchez shot a 39, while Lexi Donovan and Brooke Bower both shot a 49. That’s a good score for Brooke."

The going gets tougher this week when Coronado hosts Cathedral Catholic Tuesday. "It will probably be one of our toughest matches," said Cohan. "That’s our first league match in the Western League. Everyone is in good spirits and they are sharpening their skills as we approach the beginning of the formal league season." Coronado has a 6-0 record this season.

Cohan also had a good coaching moment over the weekend when she saw sophomore Chelsea Newson working on her golf game. "I caught her out there practicing," said Cohan. "That was nice to see."

CHS Girls Tennis Head Coach Robbin Adair lobs a report our way on his team. "We went 1 and 1 this week. We traveled to Mission Bay and squeaked out a close one. The match was tied 9-9 and we won on game count 66-64. They had two very strong singles players and one pretty good doubles team. We didn’t play our normal doubles lineup, as I needed to see some of the other combinations play. That made it close.

Freshman Spencer Berman teamed up with junior Amanda Purvis to sweep in doubles. They were the only team able to do that. The singles players of Allie Gordon, Nicole Aponte, and Hannah Schneider each beat their No. 3, but could not get through against either their No. 1 or No. 2. In doubles, Jen Carney and Loren Metzger were able to win only one set, while Hayley Kitzmiller and Alicia Ruiz managed to win two sets.

Thursday we hosted Cathedral Catholic and they came in with a really strong team. They were the CIF Division III champs a year ago, and two of the players who started on that team last year are playing on the JV squad this year. They are that much stronger this year.

We had several close sets, particularly one by Nicole Aponte against their No. 2, which Nicole lost 6-4. One set from our first doubles team of Spencer Berman and Hannah Schneider against their No. 2 team was lost in a tie breaker. Our lone point was earned by Allie Gordon when she defeated their No. 3 singles player.

This coming week we host University City on Tuesday and travel to Scripps Ranch Thursday. Scripps is really tough and University City always fields a good team, so we’ll see how we compete."

Occasionally we get requests to update readers on CHS alumni who have gone on to compete on the intercollegiate level. Kevin Corcoran and his daughter Lauren Corcoran combined to put together the following report concerning the impact of CHS Boys Water Polo Alumni on the sport at the college level this year.

"Coronado High School had three grads, Layne Beaubien (CHS ’94), Genai Kerr (CHS ’95) and Jessie Smith (CHS ’01) who played on the 2004 Olympic Water Polo Team. In addition, Coronado High School has alumni playing important roles on four of the Top 6 collegiate water polo teams this season.

The key alumni competing this year are American Water Polo College Association (AWPCA) All Americans Smith at Pepperdine; Jonathan Hopkins (CHS ’01) at UCSD; Thomas Hopkins (CHS ’02) at Stanford; Tommy Corcoran (CHS ’04) at USC; while Matt Digges (CHS ’04) and Dougie Mann (CHS ’02) are both are competing at Pepperdine with Smith.

Many other Coronado grads are making notable contributions in water polo. Princeton has three Islanders on the roster, including Jamal Motlagh (CHS ’02); Gant Morgner (CHS ’02); and Scott Syverson (CHS ’04). Navy is led by Alex Ratcliffe (CHS ’02), and Connor Herron (CHS ’03). Tom Jay (CHS ’02) is a four-year starter at UC Davis, while Andrew Ratcliffe (CHS ’05) plays for UCSB. Joey Jankiewicz (CHS ’04) competes for Johns Hopkins and Chris Brown (CHS ’04) plays for Iona."