Virtually every time the Islanders of Coronado play the Knights from The Bishop’s School in water polo, that contest will comprise the lead story in our weekly literary visit. Especially when the contest was as well played as last Wednesday’s 6-5 home victory by Coronado.

Even before the last second (literally) heroics by junior Jacob Smith, the long-time rivals battled through five ties and six lead changes. The Knights focused their considerable defensive talents on Smith for most of the contest. Responding to the challenge was Eric Clapper with two goals, and solo tallies came from Jackson Crow-Mickle, Jake Hunzecker and Adam Ratcliffe. Sean Cook added three steals to the effort, while goalie Kyle O’Brien Pokorny was credited with six saves.

But the afternoon belonged primarily to Smith, who had two assists, three steals, and a field block to nicely augment his game-winning goal.

With 12 seconds remaining in the game, Bishop’s had possession of the ball and called timeout to set up a final shot to win the game. Pokorny easily handled the save on the Knight’s shot attempt and quickly flipped the ball to Smith, stationed roughly 10 meters directly in front of him. Smith wound up and fired a shot toward the Bishop’s goal, three-quarters of the pool away. The ball skipped twice off the water, and then tucked itself under the Bishop’s goalkeeper’s right arm and into the bottom corner of the net.

As the ball traveled goalward, the horn signifying the end of the game sounded. The Coronado crowd, which appeared to be roughly evenly split between parents and students, erupted in celebration.

There were a host of fine plays by the Islanders in the game. Included in that list were a beautiful cross-cage pas from Clapper, which Ratcliffe one-timed into the net. Later in the contest, Cook kept a Bishop’s shot attempt from crossing the goal line, while Pokorny was defending the opposite side of the net. And, with less than two minutes remaining, a nice hustle play from Crow-Mickle earned an important possession for the Islanders that could easily have gone to the Knights.

The next day University City visited the Coronado Aquatics Center, holding the No. 4 ranking in CIF Division II. Islander Head Coach Randy Burgess was wary of the Centurions. "The concern is that after an emotionally draining game like the Bishop’s game, there will be a letdown." Burgess added, laughing, "And the good news is that they (Coronado) responded accordingly." The Islanders were up 3-2 at halftime, but stretched the lead out in the second half to win 10-6.

"The game was probably closer than that actually," Burgess added. "We stepped it up in the last quarter and shut them out. The kids came through. We had five players dishing out assists and five people scored. One of the highlights of the game was Pokorny with five steals and 12 saves. That was a big game for him." Smith scored four goals, Clapper had three, and single goals came from Cook, Ratcliffe and Hunzecker.

Friday Coronado was off to the S & R Southern California Invitational, one of two unofficial state championship events held annually. In the first round the Islanders drew a very tough Clovis West squad and lost 8-4. In the 16-team tournament format, that means the best Coronado could finish after losing their opening match was ninth place, which is exactly what they did.

Putting together a nice three-game run, Coronado defeated Jesuit 10-7, Acalanes 7-6 and Foothill 8-6. Burgess provided an overview of the tournament. "It’s fun to play against different teams. The kids were forced to make a lot of adjustments against each and every team. Being a young team, the tournament was a big challenge for us. In the Clovis West game, the bottom line was that we could have played better and made it a closer game. We faced different playing styles and we were put into a scenario where we had to make adjustments. That will help us out for the remaining games this season."

Burgess credited Clapper, Smith and Pokorny for their play at the SoCal Invitational, but went deeper in his praise for the team. "Crow-Mickle, Cook and Ratcliffe started to pick up their games a lot in the tournament. We have come a long way. We knew we were going to get four quality games and we got a lot out of it. The kids are growing and learning. And I’m learning about them as we’re progressing."

This week the Islanders host La Jolla Wednesday and travel to Cathedral Catholic Friday. Both games start at 3 pm.

Head Coach George Green checks in with a report on both the CHS Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams. "Going into the Saints Small School Invitational last Friday, the Islander Cross Country Team had competed in three meets, but they had yet to go head-to-head against a Central League or Division IV rival, as a team. All of the league and division contending teams entered the Saints Invitational, with the results hopefully providing a harbinger of what is to come.

The Boy’s Team won the Division IV matchup against La Jolla Country Day by the closest of margins. Each team scored 67 points, but Coronado won based on the finishing position of our sixth runner (the old Sixth Runner tie-breaker rule). Ben Enowitz led the Islanders, finishing second with a time of 17:17 for the 3.1-mile course.

He was followed by Michael Davies (fourth in 17:46), David Grimes (19^th in 18:59), Cotter Stacy (22^nd in 19:11), Ben Green (23^rd in 19:16), Jose Tijerina (24^th in 19:16), and Turner Stanley (46^th in 20:11).

Against Central League rivals, we were six points behind Clairemont (a Division III team), but won easily against all others. The close finishes against LJCD and Clairemont were achieved even though Grimes, Tijerina and Stanley had not raced to their normal standards. Kevin Siefert, who ran in the JV race, served notice that he is ready to move up to the varsity by finishing seventh in 19:41 over the same course. The first five runners were all from Division III.

Also finishing the JV race were Jordan Vance (20:47), Leo Legidakes (20:48), Kramer De Laurentis (21:13), Danny Luiken (21:15), Cory Couture (21:20), Alton Smith, Micah Fischer, Frank Harrison, Alex Fish, Jack Nolan and Tim Sebring.

The race of the day was the Varsity Girls match-up featuring Coronado’s Sallie Privett (freshman), Sammy Silva (sophomore) from Our Lady of Peace, LJCD’s Lauren Pischel (senior), and Bishop’s Elizabeth Schulze (sophomore). During last year’s track season, Silva was the Division II 1,600-meter champion with a time of 5:07.45. Pischel placed second at last year’s Division IV CIF Cross Country championships, followed by Schulze in third.

At the Mustang Invitational earlier this season, Privett out-kicked Silva to win by 13 seconds. However, at the Mt. Carmel Invitational, Privett’s three rivals posted better times. Because the races were contested by grade level, they didn’t face Privett. Silva and Schulze went 1-2 in the sophomore race and Pischel placed fourth in the senior race. Although Privett won the freshman race at the same event, she had an off day and was laboring at the race’s conclusion. Silva’s winning time (over a shorter version of the Saint’s course) was 16:13 compared to Privett’s time of 16:56. Ok, that’s enough background information.

From the gun, as expected, it was a four-girl race, with the lead group populated by the aforementioned quartet. They ran as a pack, changing leads for about 2 miles, after which Schulze began to lose ground. Privett took the lead at the bottom of the last hill (called the Dog Loop, because it’s a no-leash dog run area) with about three-quarters of a mile remaining in the race. The area was supposed to be canine-free for this event, but (as usual) it wasn’t policed and two large dogs jumped on Privett three times before she was able to run them off.

The conditions didn’t change the outcome, as Privett won in a time of 16:35. Silva passed Pischel in the last few hundred yards to finish second in 16:39. Pischel ran 16:42 and Schulze was fourth in 16:53.

Fellow Islander freshmen Adrianna Davies, Coco O’Brien and Selina Schmek followed in 15^th, 26^th and 48^th place, with times of 18:42, 19:31 and 21:00 respectively. Sophomore Helen Luppi placed 78^th. Due to a time conflict, seniors Sheila Braun and Lindsay Pettee ran in the earlier JV race, where they placed 13^th and 15^th.

Bishop’s won the Division IV team race with 41 points, followed by LJCD, Francis Parker, Santa Fe Christian and Coronado all grouped about 40 points back. Since two Islanders weren’t in the varsity heat, second place in the division seems up for grabs. In the Central League match-up, Coronado came out on top.

The next meet is Thursday against Christian at Morley Field. You can follow the Islander Harriers on our website at IslanderTrack.com.

Honesty compels me to report that your scribe didn’t make the eastward trek to El Centro Friday night, having to ‘settle’ for a high brow evening of dinner (Jack and Giulio’s Italian Restaurant in Old Town; the Veal Valdostano di Vitello is amazing) and the theatuh with the Natter Wife.

So like most of you, I was surprised at Coronado coming out on the short end of the 27-6 score at El Centro Southwest. The lone Islander points came on a pair of field goals from senior Geovanni Saldana, from holds by Curtis Perkins and long-snapping provided by J.J. Pontes. The field goals came from distances of 31 and 24 yards, both in the third quarter.

"We wore out the grass between the goal lines, but we couldn’t find our way into the end zone," said Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "We had lots of opportunities and didn’t execute. There is no way this should have happened. It’s one more step in the learning process."

Moving along, Friday’s game at Kearney High School has a new starting time of 3:30 pm, as opposed to the 7:30 pm start originally listed. The JV game will be played at Coronado Thursday afternoon at 4:30 pm.

Mayfield provided a thumbnail sketch of the Komets, who provide the opposition in the first Central League game for both schools this season. "They’re huge this year, but they haven’t gotten it together yet. I hope they don’t by Friday. We don’t traditionally play well in the afternoons in City Conference games. That’s another thing we have to learn to overcome."

Before Friday’s loss, Coronado had put together a nice three-game winning streak. Their record now stands at 3-2 with losses to West Hills and El Centro Southwest and victories over Serra, Medicine Hat (Calgary, Alberta), and Mar Vista.

The CHS Girls Golf Team had a rather unusual result last week in that they won both of their matches against Point Loma (263 to 320) and La Jolla (231-232) without having the match medalist in either contest.

"Point Loma doesn’t have a strong team, but they have a strong player," said Head Coach Hanna Cohan. "They’re still getting their footing as a team."

Two days later, the Islanders nipped La Jolla by one stroke at Coronado Municipal. "The La Jolla match was definitely a nail-biter," said Cohan. "We were down 12 stokes after the second group, but when all was said and done, we won by one. Alexcie Sanchez played well (shooting a 42) and Giovanna Ascolani played well (43). The players who held tight were Mackenzie Coutts and Jackie Davis. They were in our last group and they were the ones who pulled out the win out. Giovanna is a diamond in the rough."

The Islanders are now 8-1 on the season and face Scripps Ranch at Torrey Pines Monday and Cathedral Catholic at Riverwalk Wednesday.

The roller coaster ride continued for the CHS Girls Volleyball Team last week, starting with a five-game loss to Mission Bay by the scores of 22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 10-15. "It was a very frustrating game," said Head Coach Christina Lahr. "We were having passing problems. Mission Bay is a very scrappy team and we couldn’t put the ball away on them."

Friday Coronado hosted pool play in the Beach Cities Classic, a tough five-team grouping that included Coronado, Esperanza, Horizon, Canyon Crest and Centennial. "Our pool on Friday had some pretty solid teams in it," Lahr noted. "I was surprised we didn’t get at least one match win. We went to three games with Horizon and that was an amazing match. We came together as a team and played really scrappy. It was 15-13 in the third game and it was fun. That was the biggest thing, even not winning, but having fun and playing well. It was a very productive tournament and it was very nerve wracking at times. I told them they were going to give me an ulcer."

Esperanza, which went on to finish second in the Championship Flight of the tourney, provided some stiff competition in pool play for Coronado according to Lahr. "Esperanza had the fastest offense we’ve ever seen. They had a senior girl who was in her third season as the starting setter. They are always hustling, including running back to serve. Everything they do is at a higher pace than we are used to seeing in the Eastern League. Christy Mebust made the comment after the game that we didn’t score a whole lot, but it was a fun game and we played really well."

Saturday, the Islanders returned to their home digs (Volleyball pun) and hosted the Consolation Bracket play. Their first opponent was Imperial and the Islanders dispatched the visitors 25-23 and 25-14. Next came Marian Catholic and Coronado prevailed 25-17, 23-25 and 15-11. The third match was a rematch with Imperial in what amounted to a mini double elimination tournament. Coronado prevailed again 25-20 and 25-22.

This week Coronado has an Eastern League bye on Tuesday and Thursday they host Serra. In the first match between the two schools, Serra prevailed in five games. "Maybe being at home will give us the extra edge we need to win," Lahr said.

Head Coach Robbin Adair provides last week’s Girls Tennis results. "We had three matches last week. Tuesday we traveled to Cathedral Catholic and got beat 13-2. Spencer Berman took two sets by beating their first and second singles players before we called the match. Allie Gordon lost 4-6 and 3-6 while Simmi Deo, playing No. 3 singles, lost two. Over in doubles, Jen Carney/Hannah Schneider lost 0-6, 4-6 and 4-6, while Hannah Glasoe/Andrea Wheeler lost 0, 0 and 2. The last team of Natalie Brooks/Grace Lancaster also got swept, but played really well losing 2-6, 3-6, and 4-6.

Wednesday we traveled to San Dieguito Academy. We lost 17-1 to them earlier in the year, but this time it was a lot closer. Carney took one of the two while Gordon came up big, taking two of two. Lancaster lost two and then we substituted in singles. Glasoe got beat 6-3, while Cori Morse lost 6-0, but Wheeler won 6-2. In double we got swept, but the teams of Berman/Schneider and Brooks/Deo played really well, losing three close sets. The third team of Loren Metzger/Amanda Purvis also got swept.

Finally Friday we hosted OLP. Berman led the way again, taking all three sets 6-3, 6-3, and 6-2, while Gordon/Schneider won a doubles set at 6-4, as did Brooks/Deo by the same score. The final score was 13-5.

This week we begin the second round of Western League play, hosting University City Tuesday and traveling to Scripps Ranch Thursday."