Make no mistake the CHS Boys Soccer Team is firing on all cylinders in the early going of the 2005-06 season. Last week the team played four games and won them all to expand their won-loss record to a nifty 10-0-1 mark. Said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu of his squad’s near perfect record, "We have never gone into the Christmas break undefeated. You won’t find many teams that do."

The Islanders laid a 2-0 defeat on the Raiders. After Nick Hamilton was fouled in the box, Travis Lindsay converted on a penalty kick. Christian Herrera converted on a header from an assist by Christian Bond for the other goal.

After the soaring high of the Southwest game came the relative low of the next contest, played against winless Ramona Thursday, an effort that concerned Hiatt-Aleu. "I warned our kids not to take any competition lightly and Ramona came to play. We went from playing our best Tuesday to being really boring and complacent Thursday. It’s the sign of a good team when you can play to 75 percent of your potential and still get a win out of it." The Coronado goals were scored by Patrick Murphy and Matt Ganyard. Christian Bond supplied the assists for both scores.

Then it was on to the semi-Finals of the Francis Parker Tournament, where the Islanders faced La Jolla Country Day. One way to tell when a team is hot is when they are a last-minute entry into a tournament, and then they proceed to win it. Late last week Hiatt-Aleu decided to accept an open spot in the Francis Parker Tournament, where the Islanders received the second seed.

The Islanders converted on four of their five penalty kicks attempts. Vera made a save on one of the LJCD attempts, while the other hit the crossbar.

Michael Dykstra and Taylor Patino responded with second half scores and Vera continued to play big in goal, earning the shutout. Coronado won their second tournament of the young season and sailed into the break undefeated.

To the victors go the spoils and tournament soccer is no exception. Nick Hamilton was voted Tournament MVP, with Pat Ahern, Bond and Dykstra joining Hamilton on the All-Tournament Team.

The team will return to action with a non-league home game against Mission Bay Jan. 10, followed by their Central League opener at Christian Jan. 12.

Girls Soccer Head Coach Kiko Medina summarized his team’s efforts by saying, "It was a good week, but it was a long week." The Islander varsity managed to squeeze four games into last 7 days, winning three times and tying once.

The action started Wednesday when Coronado beat up on Horizon 3-1, courtesy of a hat trick from senior Sasha Vido. (Trivia Question - ‘What is the derivation of the term ‘hat trick?’)

Next came the beginning of the Western League season as the Islanders hosted University City. It was the second match between the Islanders and the Centurions this season, with the first game won by Coronado 1-0. Round Two resulted in a 1-1 tie.

Saturday it was back to the Lady Vaquero Tournament, where the Islanders played twice. The first game was a 4-0 victory over Santana with the Coronado scoring evenly spread among Vido, Leah Hatheway, Becka Runyon and Katie Ferrar.

On to the next round and Coronado defeated Mission Hills on a tally from the ever-present Vido, by the score of 1-0. That earned Coronado a semi-final berth in the tournament. At press time, the other side of bracket play had not been completed. The Islanders are slated to play their semi-final Tuesday at noon at El Capitan.

The team now sports a 6-1-2 record on the season.

Fans attending Coronado basketball games in the near future may notice that there is a lack of orange paint on the rims at the Blumenthal Sports Complex. That is due in large part to the bricks fired by the visiting squad from San Ysidro Friday night as the Cougars shot an even 20 percent, converting on just 12 of 60 shots from the floor.

Coronado was paced by 19 points and seven rebounds from Chas Marks and 14 points from both Matt Oakley and Ryan Guard, and coasted to a 68-36 victory in front of a large and appreciative crowd.

Not to belittle the Cougars’ effort, because they played hard and had good athletes, but it is fair to say that shooting is not their forte. The Islanders also committed 22 steals on the evening, with Guard’s six swipes and four more from Geoff Worley leading the way. Head Coach Sandy Dillon found playing time for everyone dressed in a home white uniform.

The comic relief for the evening was supplied by the Dillon Dozen, a group of creative football players, sartorially arrayed to imitate Dillon. They were dressed eerily similarly to the long-time head coach, down to the accessories of the towel to kneel on during the game, clothes, and wigs to approximate Dillon’s hair line. They coached along with the real Dillon during timeouts, jangling their key rings and gesticulating wildly. Their performance alone was worth the price of admission.

"I thought they were great," said Dillon, the target of the benevolent lampooning. "They were having fun and that’s what it’s all about. I tried hard not to look over there. I was afraid I would crack up. Kyle McArthur (senior football co-captain) said ‘we’ll be back’."

This week a previously scheduled game at Mountain Empire was cancelled by the Redhawks administration, because they didn’t want to open the gymnasium during the break. (Huh?) As a result Coronado’s next games will be in the Islander Christmas Tournament, which starts play Tuesday Dec. 27. The varsity will play at 1:30 vs. The Preuss School and again at 7:30 pm vs. Lutheran. Wednesday Coronado will play Pacific Hills from Hollywood, at 7:30 pm. Pacific Hills currently boosts a 6-0 record. Thursday the Islanders will play Julian, again at 7:30 pm.

The tournament features the JV and Varsity teams from all four schools, with play starting at noon Tuesday and Wednesday and at 9:30 am Thursday. The tournament is a fund-raiser for the CHS basketball program and the snack bar will be open for your convenience throughout the tournament. So, after the Christmas gifts are opened, come out and support the boys basketball program.

Last week the CHS Girls Basketball Team was hit by a combination of player illness, strong opposition and the blahs on offense, as they fell to Bishop’s, Mission Hills and Orange Glen.

Specifically Coronado lost to Bishop’s 57-25, with Brooke Becky leading the scoring for the Islanders with 11 points. Two nights later in the Mission Hills game, a 56-32 loss for Coronado, Becky scored 15, followed by Jessica Davis-Ricci with seven points and Tiffany Depfer with 5 points.

The week ended with a 51-31 loss to Orange Glen. Becky scored 10 points, followed by eight from Davis-Ricci and seven from Farrell Pompa.

Missing from last week’s re-cap of award winners, was the recognition given to Marissa Nagler, who joined Sheila Braun as co-winners of the Coaches’ Award for the Girls Varsity Cross Country Team. Congratulations to both athletes.

The CHS Football Team presented their banquet last week, with awards aplenty and a total of 39 players earning varsity letters. The awards, as presented by Head Coach Bud Mayfield, Assistant Head Coach Ed Shanholtz and Assistants Keith Sippy and Corey Loomis included: Captains – Kyle McArthur and David Loving; Co-Most Improved – Chris Arthur and Dustin West; Most Valuable Lineman – Kyle McArthur; Co-Scholar Athletes, both with a 4.1 grade point average – Stewart Harris and Ryland Gill; the Adrian Taufaasau Award – Ricardo Oberwager; Most Valuable Back – David Loving; and Most Valuable Player – Kelcey Fisher.

Players earning All-Central League First Team honors included: Ben Thorne, Loving, Fisher, McArthur and Gill. All-Central League Second Team honors were conferred upon the following: Will Purvis, Tim Sexton, Oberwager, Arthur, and West.

The Junior Varsity awards included: Most Valuable Player – Ray SanGiovanni; Captains – Stephen Conrad and Charlie Moore; Most Improved – Ken Twomey.

Hailing originally from the Midwest, Your Natterer has a little trouble with this baseball in December concept, but Coronado Varsity Head Coach Sam Ceci called recently to announce the Third Annual Islander Alumni Game. The contest will be played on the Islanders home field behind Silver Strand Elementary School Saturday, Dec. 31 at 10 am and is for all Islander alumni. Post game activities will include food for the participants and bragging rights until next year at this same time.

Ceci is equally proud of a new event coming Saturday, Feb. 11, that will be the inaugural edition of the Islander Baseball Fantasy Camp. Designed and tailored for any baseball fan, whose careers have improved as the years have gone by, the fantasy camp will include batting practice at 10 am, lunch at noon, with a game following at 1 pm. You need not be a CHS alumnus to participate and Ceci, who still throws batting practice for the Islander Varsity, guarantees that his pitches will make contact with your bat.

A tax-deductible donation will garner you an Islander baseball cap and T-shirt, as well as great stories to tell around the water cooler for at least a month. If you would like to participate in either game, please contact Ceci at 435-0854.