Given the opportunity to summarize his team with a single word at the beginning of the season, Head Coronado High School Boys Soccer Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu would likely have opted for ‘young’ or perhaps ‘rebuilding.’ Last year the team went undefeated in the Harbor League for the first time in school history, and this year’s squad figured to be a little weaker due to graduating seniors who played key roles in last year’s success.

Fast forward three weeks and the Islanders are now the owners of a gaudy 6-0-1 mark and are the champions of the Gold Division of their own Islander Invitational Tournament.

When we left them last week, the Islanders were about to face La Jolla in the tourney semi-final game. The score was tied at the end of regulation 2-2, courtesy of two goals from Islander Nick Hamilton. Neither side was able to score in overtime. The game was decided on penalty kicks, with Coronado goalie Hugo Vera making two saves to help provide the difference. Interestingly Hamilton, who had scored the two goals in regulation, was the only Islander to miss a penalty kick.

The Islanders converted on four of their five penalty kicks, with Michael Dykstra, Matt Ganyard, Christian Bond and Travis Lindsay all finding the back of the net.

The victory earned Coronado the right to play Clairemont in the final. The results were similar, with an Islander goal by Pat Ahern and a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. There was no scoring in overtime, with the teams once again settling matters by penalty kicks.

Not wishing to upset the soccer gods, the same contingent of juniors and seniors who had attempted the penalty kicks in Monday’s semi-finals and earned a good result, lined up for the penalty kicks in this game. All five kicks were converted, by the same players, in the same order.

"I’m superstitious and the older guys have picked up on it," said Hiatt-Aleu. "We made all five kicks and none of them were close. They went up there with a lot of confidence and buried every one of them. They showed a lot of character with that."

The team then played Serra Friday and won 4-0. Coronado blazed out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, allowing Coach Hiatt-Aleu to rest his starters and award playing time to the entire roster.

Knowing his team was on a roll, Hiatt-Aleu decided to accept a last-minute invitation to enter the Francis Parker Tournament, when another team decided not to participate. "I got the details from the tournament director," said Hiatt-Aleu. "And the boys wanted to play." That fact was evident as Coronado defeated Bishop’s 2-0 in the first of two games Saturday and then conquered Imperial 1-0 in the nightcap. All in all, it was a perfect 5-0 week for the Islander Boys Soccer Team.

Hiatt-Aleu noted the fine play of Dykstra, Ganyard and Bond. He also praised goalie Hugo Vera for "playing really well in the final two games of the tournament."

This week Coronado hosts Southwest Tuesday evening, and will welcome Ramona Thursday night. Both of the home games start at 5 pm. Saturday Coronado plays in the semi-finals of the Parker Tournament against La Jolla Country Day at 12 noon. If they win, the will face the winner of the Francis Parker vs. The San Diego Jewish Academy game Saturday evening at 5:30 pm. The final two rounds of the tournament will be played at Francis Parker.

Not letting any grass grow under their feet either last week, The Boys Basketball Team played four games in the Small Schools Invitational, amassing a 3-1 record in the process. Scheduled games in this event were a little on the shaky side, as Head Coach Sandy Dillon thought he was going to play Midway Baptist Wednesday evening at La Jolla Country Day. Except that he found the San Diego Jewish Academy waiting to play the Islanders instead.

The opponent didn’t turn out to be a problem, as Coronado laid a 17-2 first quarter on the Lions, fueled by three three-point field goals from guard Geoffrey Worley. Benson Lorden added 11 points and Matt Oakley chipped in nine more and the Islanders coasted to a 58-18 victory.

Next on the docket was Fresno Christian. "We’ve played them six or seven times over the years in this tournament," said Dillon. "Our kids just played very, very well. We led 37-20 at halftime and once again we got to play a lot of kids. We got to press and we got to get after somebody really hard." Chas Marks was the leading scorer for Coronado with 16, followed closely by Ryan Guard with 15. Kasey Zapatka, Anthony Ott, and Bryan Reed all contributed six points each. Coronado won by the score of 73-33.

The next night, Coronado played Santa Fe Christian and lost 67-52, in part because they didn’t return home until 11 pm from the Fresno Christian game. Coronado jumped to a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, and still held a 33-32 edge at halftime. The Eagles got hot in the second half, converting on five three-pointers. "We played really, really well," said Dillon of his team. "They hit the threes in the fourth quarter, all of them with a hand in their face. We shot 53 percent from the floor and they shot 51 percent. Marks had 13 points in the first half."

The tournament finale was Saturday evening as the Islanders now had to face Palo Verde. Dillon had his team press all over the floor, hoping to take a large early lead and hold on at the end, as his club would likely tire at the end of a skein of four games in four days. Marks scored 17 of is 23 points in the first half and Coronado led 44-21 at the intermission.

Now comes the ‘hold on’ part. Palo Verde hit 7-17 three point shots in the second half, closing to within seven points with a minute to play, before some Islander free throw conversions got the score to the final margin of 69-59. Ryan Guard was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

"Blake Spitzer has been a pleasant surprise," said Dillon of his senior captain. "He jumps well, plays hard and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Matt Oakley has been another surprise. He played well in all four games. He’s been really, really great. Bryan Reed has improved and has played very well."

The Islanders are now 4-1 on the season and host San Ysidro Friday evening at 7:30 pm, preceeded by the JV game. A scheduling change of note, the Tuesday Dec. 20 game with Mountain Empire has been cancelled. Instead Coronado will host Escondido Charter Saturday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 pm.

The CHS Girls Soccer Team played three times since our last visit, starting with a 1-1 tie with Bishop’s Monday. Wednesday Coronado dismantled Oceanside 6-0 on two goals from Callie Caldwell, two more from Sasha Vido and single scores from Katie Ferrar and Mackenzie Coutts. Megan Mushovic was credited with the shutout.

"We knew going into the game, that we had to win by the score of 5-0 or 6-0 to advance in the tournament," said Head Coach Kiko Medina. "We had to do that to go through."

In the semi-finals against Christian the Islanders fell 5-2 despite goals from Caldwell and Vido. "We didn’t come to play that day," said Medina of his team. "Overall we were flat and we just basically got outworked in that game. We don’t have a superstar on the team this year and we have to have a team effort to continue to be successful. If we don’t, it will show like the Christian game."

For their efforts, Vido and Caldwell were named to the Unlimited Division All-Tournament Team. Coronado now stands at 3-1-1 for the season.

This week Coronado plays their first home games of the season, hosting Horizon Wednesday and University City Friday. Both games are slated for 3:15 pm starts. The U.C. game marks the beginning of the Western League season for both teams. The Islanders and the Centurions have already faced each other this season, with Coronado winning 1-0 in the first round of the Barons Tournament.

Saturday, the Islanders will play in the Lady Vaquero Tournament. At press time, the game schedules for the tourney had not been posted.

The good news? The Coronado Girls Basketball Team outscored Julian Tuesday night 18-2 in the first quarter and a lot of the Coronado team played during the contest.

The bad news? They won the game by the score of 31-18, being outscored in the final three frames 16-13.

"We had an 18-2 first quarter, and then did nothing after that," said Head Coach Toler Goodwin. "Overall I wasn’t pleased with the way we finished the game; with our aggressiveness. We went through the motions for the last two and a half quarters. We did some really nice things in the first quarter, with defensive pressure and advancing the ball to open teammates. We just didn’t maintain the intensity level we need to have, long term. We can be very difficult (to play) defensively and we were. We just didn’t maintain it."

Brooke Becky led the Islanders with a game-high 15 points. Tiffany Depfer scored six points; Arrielle Luna added four and the trio of Farrell Pompa, Jessica Davis-Ricci and Lisa Bernardy scored two points each. Coronado now has a 5-2 overall record.

In what Goodwin described as a ‘big week,’ the Islanders travel to Bishop’s Tuesday and then host Mission Hills Thursday at 6:30 pm. The JV plays at 5 pm. Saturday Coronado hosts Orange Glen at 4:15 pm, with the JV playing at 2:30 pm.

Saturday the final round of the Coronado Round Robin Tournament will be played and features the following varsity games: Mar Vista vs. Julian at 11:30 am; Marian vs. Monte Vista at 1:05 pm; San Marcos vs. University City at 2:40 pm; Monte Vista vs. Coronado at 4:15 pm; Mission Hills vs. La Jolla at 5:50 pm; and Westview vs. Bishop’s at 7:20 pm.

The Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams gathered for their post season banquet last week. Head Coach George Green and Assistant Coach Jack Nash announced the award winners as follows: Boys MVP – Ben Enowitz; Girls MVP – Karolin Ivarsson; Boys Coaches Award – Michael Davies; Girls Coaches Award – Sheila Braun; Boys Rookie of the Year – David Grimes; Girls Rookie of the Year – Allison Cabana.

In addition the team awards listed above, Enowitz was named as an All-Central League and All-CIF honoree; Ivarsson, Braun, Davies, and Grimes earned All-Central League honors; while Enowitz, Davies, Jack Harms, Grimes, Andrew Falkiewicz, Jose Tijerina and Cotter Stacy were all recognized as members of the 2005 Central League championship team.

Congratulations to CHS alumnus Jake Ruzevick (CHS ’05), who was named New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Rookie of the Year for his sixth place finish in the league championship race. In addition, Ruzevick helped lead the MIT Engineers to the league title.

The NEWMAC is comprised of Babson College, Clark College, MIT, Smith College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, Mount Holyoke College, Springfield College, WPI and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.