Not content to play three games like they did the previous week, the Coronado High School Girls Water Polo Team doubled their fun by playing six contests last week.

To get the ball rolling, the Islanders traveled to the new campus of Cathedral Catholic High School, where 18 Coronado players saw playing time on their way to a 13-0 victory. A total of eight Islander athletes scored the team’s goals, including one tally each from Maggie Sosnowski, Molly Patrick, Danielle Goldblatt and Alana Burgess. Freshman goalie Alex Adamson started and finished the game and shared the shutout honors with junior netminder Morgan Ronimus.

The following day Coronado hosted University City and came away with an 8-3 victory. Head Coach Dave Throop continued to play his entire roster, with five players accounting for the team’s eight goals. The scorers included Katie Estrada with three goals, two goals and an assist from Kelly Phelps, and a goal and three assists from Sandra Fernandez. Emily Bigham scored a goal, as did sophomore center Sabrina Anonas, who is still in the process of recovering from off season shoulder surgery.

Then the Islanders traveled to the prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament Friday and Saturday, where the field consisted of 16 teams. All but one of the participating teams had been a CIF semi-finalist or better in their respective section last year. Coronado entered the competition a little behind some of the competing teams from a scheduling perspective, having only played one tough game this season entering the tournament play. Throop called the event, "an intense and competitive tournament."

Coronado opened the tourney by playing the host team Santa Barbara in their pool and emerged with a 4-3 victory. Patrick, Phelps, Estrada and Bigham accounted for the Islander goals and Ronimus was credited with five saves in the game. Referring to the style of play, Throop said, "The first game was very physical, which was the theme for the whole tournament."

The quarter final game found Coronado playing No. 1 seed and eventual tournament champion Corona del Mar, losing 9-3. "The final score wasn’t indicative of the game," Throop said. "We came out and played hard and we went down 3-0 in the first quarter. All three of the goals were scored from mistakes we made and their counterattacks. CDM was playing at a very high level. In the second quarter, we scratched and clawed to get to 3-1, and then it was 6-1 at halftime. We played 17 girls and both goalies and we wanted to let everybody compete against a team playing at a very high level."

The following day the Islanders’ first opponent was No. 5 seed Monte Bello, who proceeded to hang a 12-5 loss on Coronado. "This was the breaking point for us in the tournament," said Throop. "Monte Bello was driving and cutting and they gave us a clinic on those offensive elements. We did some basic things poorly, including our positioning on the defensive end and moving into attacking positions. It was a good lesson for us. "

The tournament finale was a 5-3 loss to Whittier, but Throop was pleased with the team’s mental approach after the one-sided loss to Monte Bello. "I sat back and let the girls play, to see what they could do. I was happy with how disheartened they were after the Monte Bello game. Their attitude was much different in this game. In the whole tournament, we were playing against very good teams and we weren’t used to that. Our girls did a very good job. The tournament was a huge positive for us to draw from. We do need to take a couple of steps back and address some basic things." Entering the tournament as the No. 8 seed, the Islanders emerged from the event in 8^th place.

This week the Islanders host Scripps Ranch Thursday at 3:15 pm and then host the America’s Finest City Tournament in their home pool for the first time in three seasons. Among the entrants in the 16-team tournament field are La Jolla, Vista, El Toro, Torrey Pines, Irvine, and the same Whittier team that Coronado lost to in their final game in Santa Barbara. Coronado plays their first game at 2 pm Friday against Mater Dei. Also in Coronado’s bracket are Ventura and Valley Center.

"The next three weeks are pretty tough," said Throop. "We have finals next week. If there is a group than can handle it, it’s this group."

Ryan Guard scored seven points, Blake Spitzer added six points, and Matt Oakley scored five more. Anthony Ott and Bryan Reed added three each, while Geoff Worley, Drew Zeller, and Kasey Zapatka accounted for a pair a piece.

Islander Head Coach Sandy Dillon assessed his team’s performance. "We played OK the other night. It was a good opportunity to get playing time for some of the kids who don’t get to play too much. Sweetwater won a fair amount (of games) last year. It was good to get a win."

The game marked the 100^th home win for the Islander varsity since the closing of the old Carrothers Gym in 1995 and the opening of the Blumenthal Sports Complex later the same year. Including the 1993-94 season, the CHS varsity under Dillon has compiled an overall record of 215-101 (.680) The Junior Varsity program, directed by Robbin Adair is 205-59 (.777) over the same period.

"Those are pretty special records since then," said Dillon. "In the past we have had Christian and Horizon as dominant league opponents. Now it’s Crawford and Hoover. We’re 13 points away from being 12-1 this year. After we lost to Montgomery by four points, they won three straight games including a win over Oceanside."

This week the Islanders face the aforementioned duo of Crawford Tuesday on the road at 4:30 pm, followed by Hoover at home Friday night at 7:30 pm. This marks the beginning of the Central League schedule for the Islanders. Coronado hosts Escondido Charter Saturday evening at 6:30 pm in a game added to the schedule as a replacement for the previously cancelled game with Mountain Empire. Coronado enters play this week with a record of 9-4.

Brooke Becky and Jessica Davis-Ricci lead the Islanders on scoring with seven points each. Sophomore center Arrielle Luna added six points to the Coronado cause.

The Islanders are now 9-7 on the season, heading into Central League play. They play at Crawford Tuesday in the lid-lifter of the Girls/Boys varsity doubleheader. The game starts at 3 pm. Friday night the girls host Hoover at 6 pm, again in the first game of the varsity twin bill.

"They have some athletes," said Goodwin of the Crawford Colts. "We will have to take care of the ball better. I’m sure they will come out and press us." Goodwin predicts the Central League winner will come from among the triumvirate of Crawford, Christian and Coronado. "Tuesday’s game will go a ways toward seeing where we are."

Rosie Harris sprained her left ankle in Wednesday’s game and wasn’t able to play against La Jolla, "which affected us a little bit," according to Medina.

Coronado, which now holds a 10-2-3 record, hosts Christian Wednesday and plays OLP at Pershing Middle School Friday. Both games are slated to start at 3 pm.