Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

31 Jan 2007 Issue #4

Wednesday afternoon, if you were out and about in Coronado, the loud noise you may have heard emanating from the southern part of town, was the shattering of the dreaded Bishop’s School jinx by the Coronado High School Girls Water Polo Team. By 4 pm that day, the Islanders had defeated their arch rivals 6-4.

For the past four years, the Knights had the Islanders number. In fact none of the six seniors on the current Coronado roster (Morgan Ronimus, Lauren Corcoran, Molly Patrick, Maggie Sosnowski, Katie Estrada, or Danielle Goldblatt) had defeated Bishop’s during their prep careers.

The remarkable winning streak compiled by Bishop’s included the first meeting between the two powerhouses this season, when the Knights defeated the Islanders 11-4 in La Jolla on Dec. 15^th. But the young and talented team from Coronado apparently has a short institutional memory and looked forward to last week’s rematch.

A defensive struggle from the opening whistle, the Islanders struck first on a goal by Carly Hoshko on an Alana Burgess assist. On defense, Coronado goalie Alex Adamson, accounted for five of her 14 saves in the first quarter. In the second stanza, Ashley Young snared a rebound off of a missed shot and scored. The two teams then traded goals for the balance of the quarter, with Young finding the back of the net again on a long shot with less than two minutes remaining in the half.

Katie Estrada drew a Knight’s foul and resulting 5-meter penalty shot, which Young converted for a natural hat trick (three goals in a row by the same player). A Burgess breakaway on a beautiful outlet pass from Adamson gave Coronado a 5-2 lead at the end of the third quarter. Estrada completed the Islander scoring with 89 seconds remaining in the game, on an assist from Burgess.

A Bishop’s goal resulting from a disputed penalty shot with 13 seconds remaining made the final score of 6-4 appear closer than the contest itself really was. Coronado had a meaningful victory and the victory drought against Bishop’s was over.

Bishop’s entered Coronado’s America’s Finest City Tournament this year, which is a 16-team affair and played in the bracket opposite the Islanders until the finals on Saturday.

For their part in bracket play on Friday, Coronado dominated Helix 19-1 and Ventura 13-4. Saturday morning they hosted Mira Costa at the Coronado Community Center and promptly fell behind 3-1. Estrada scored on a beautiful backhanded sweep shot to keep the Islanders within range. Hannah Sebenaler scored twice in the latter stages of the first quarter to even the score a 3-all.

Mira Costa had no way of knowing it at the time, but the game was essentially over at that point. Estrada scored to open the second quarter; Sebenaler converted on a 5-meter penalty shot drawn by Estrada; Estrada then scored two consecutive goals; Hoshko scored on a long, high-arching shot; and Sosnowski scored on a nice assist from Lenea Smith.

Meanwhile on the defensive end of the pool, Coronado shut out Mira Costa for 16 straight minutes. Sabrina Anonas scored a goal in the third quarter and Hoshko scored her second goal of the morning in the fourth quarter. The final score was 11-7 Coronado and set up a re-match between the Islanders and the Knights in the championship finals, marking the second game between the two clubs in a scant four days.

The Knights started the scoring 39 seconds into the game, which wasn’t answered by Coronado until more than two minutes had ticked off the clock. Estrada scored on a Patrick pass and Sebenaler followed with a hard skip shot to the Bishop’s goalie’s right hand for a goal 48 seconds later. The game was knotted a 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Goldbaltt scored the first two Coronado goals of the second quarter, followed by another Sebenaler score and yet another goal by Estrada. The Islander defense yielded a lone goal and Coronado led 6-3 at the break.

Estrada and Young sandwiched goals around a Bishop’s tally and the lead grew to 8-4 at the end of the third quarter. Estrada, Anonas and Goldblatt scored in the fourth quarter en route to a decisive 11-5 victory by Coronado.

Morgan Ronimus and Alex Adamson shared time in goal for both games Saturday, with both players performing at a high level. Estrada was named Tournament MVP, Ronimus was Most Valuable Goalie and Molly Patrick earned All-Tournament Team honors. The depth of Coronado’s talent was reflected in the post tourney voting process. With 16 coaches voting, a total of 11 different Coronado players received votes for All Tournament Team consideration.

The AFC Tournament was an emergence of sorts for Estrada. “Katie did a very good job,” said Islander Head Coach Dave Throop. “Being named a team captain (along with Molly Patrick) was a big accomplishment and a confidence boost for her. She is playing like an accomplished professional. What you saw Saturday (eight goals in two games) is what we have been seeing in practice all year long. She also scored six goals in the Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.”

To compete against a quality program like Bishop’s, all facets of the game must be in working order, particularly the defense. “Philosophically we tried to attack defensively,” said Throop. “We’ve really been stressing that for a while. Our scoring opportunities will come off of that. Our unsung heroes now are Hoshko, Patrick and Sosnowski as defenders. We are asking them to do some pretty difficult one-on-one stuff.”

But the bottom line is that Bishop’s and Coronado appear headed for Co-Champion status in the Western League and the twin victories by the Islanders should cement the No. 1 seed in CIF Division II post-season play in a couple of weeks. “Defeating Bishop’s twice in a week is very difficult. We controlled the tempo and our defense absolutely dominated them yesterday (Saturday). Now the girls are confident and they are really buying into what we are telling them. We’re still a very young squad. We only returned three starters from last year’s team.”

With an overall record of 15-3, Coronado plays at La Jolla Monday and then hosts Patrick Henry Wednesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday the team will compete in the prestigious SoCal Tournament in Irvine, where they are seeded No. 8 out of 32 teams. They are slated to play five games in the tournament.

CHS Boys Soccer Maintains High Level of Play

From a talent perspective, the CHS Boys Soccer Team is loaded. In addition, the Islanders earned some respect last week, working their way into the No. 9 slot in “The San Diego Union-Tribune’s” Top 10 Soccer Poll.

Unfortunately that depth had to play a significant role in the Islanders two games last week. The first contest was a 2-2 tie at Clairemont and the second a 4-1 victory over Hoover Thursday. “We got a little tired against Clairemont,” said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “We have a lot of people sick and injured. Some of the younger guys are playing important roles and they are starting to understand pressure situations. This is a good group of kids. They fight hard for each other and they are starting to realize they are as good as anyone else.”

The team’s confidence stems at least in part from the 1-0 loss Coronado took early in the season from No. 1 ranked Poway in the Islander Christmas Tournament. “After that game, we knew we could play with anybody,” said Hiatt-Aleu.

Hiatt-Aleu provided some commentary regarding the Islanders vs. Chieftains contest. “We dominated for the first 20 minutes and we got a goal. It was 1-1 at halftime. We came out strong again and scored a goal in the second half. The tie was a bit disheartening. We gave up a goal with two minutes left in the game. We played well and it is tough to play there, as it is such a small field. They are a good side and we did well in not losing.”

Coronado forward Nick Hamilton, whom Hiatt-Aleu refers to as “One of the best players in San Diego County, who doesn’t get a lot of publicity,” scored twice to lead the Islanders to the 4-1 victory over Hoover. Hiatt-Aleu also mentioned Coronado center back Charlie Wood as another of his players who played well in both games.

The regional love for the Boys Soccer Team is a relatively new occurrence, but Hiatt-Aleu thinks the U-T poll is a little off. “We finally cracked the Top 10, but we should probably be ranked higher. We should be one of the Top 2 seeds (in CIF Division III) if we win the Central League. I told the team before the Hoover game that if we win, I’ll give them a three-day weekend. They were happy about that.”

With 8 days between games, the Islanders return to action Friday with a non-league game at Southwest High School. “We’ll have a good week of practice and we’ll get back into the league next week,” Hiatt-Aleu said. “The league title will come down to the last game when we play Clairemont at Coronado. It will be a good game. Some of my club kids are on the Clairemont team and they were the ones that hurt us (last week).”

Girls Soccer Stays Strong in Western League Race

The Western League has long been one of the strongest conferences in girls’ soccer in San Diego County, with virtually every member school annually making the CIF playoffs in their respective division. The league remains strong, although Christian has replaced perennial power Cathedral Catholic atop the standings this year.

Coronado finds itself in the middle of the table (soccer term) with Christian, Cathedral Catholic and OLP ahead of them, and Scripps Ranch, La Jolla and University City in the rearview mirror.

Last week the Islanders defeated La Jolla Wednesday 1-0 on a goal by Kelly Walsh. “Their keeper gave up a rebound,” said Coronado Head Coach Kiko Medina. “Kelly was there and stuck it in.”

Friday the Islanders fell to league-leader Christian 2-0, but competed well according to Medina. “I’d say we had the better of the play. We’re struggling to finish the chances we create. That has been our problem the last couple of weeks. We’re doing good stuff, but not finishing our chances. When we give chances, the other team seems to finish. We gave up two early goals we shouldn’t have. Then they settled into the game and played well. We missed a penalty kick. We couldn’t finish and that is costing us.”

Medina likes what he sees from his team. “Overall they played well both games. We knocked the ball well and created chances. We’re starting to get a better feel for each other.” This week Coronado hosts OLP Monday and Friday they host University City. Both games will start at 6 pm.

Girls Basketball Posts 2-0 Week

The Islander Girls Basketball Team had a good week as they continue their pursuit of a Central League crown. In their first game of the week on Tuesday they knocked off Clairemont 44-21. Arrielle Luna led the Islanders to victory with 16 points and 15 rebounds against the Chieftains.

Coronado followed that victory with a strong 46-43 home win over Crawford Friday night. With the first round of head-to-head games nearly complete and via score comparisons for the rest of the league, it appears clear that Crawford is the team Coronado has to beat again to win the outright league title.

“Overall Tiffany Depfer played a really strong game,” said Head Coach Toler Goodwin of his junior point guard. “She really focused on doing whatever we had to do. She made a couple of really heady plays. Tiffany has matured a lot. She has always loved to play and she plays hard. She recognizes what you have to do in a key situation, such as getting the ball to key players (on offense) or to create a steal opportunity.”

Depfer contributed 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and six steals to the winning cause. Her backcourt mate Bria Phillips added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore post player Emily Bell scored 13 points and Luna chipped in six points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots.

“That was the best game Emily has played this year,” said Goodwin. “She played the good all-around game we have been looking for. She played a good game at the defensive end of the floor and on the offensive end she was more patient. She caught the ball in the post and made some good passes out. She flashed to open areas and took advantage of them. She played a real strong game.”

Victory has many authors and Goodwin continued his assessment of his team’s players. “Kelsey Branch played real well for us defensively. She did a good job. Defensively Melissa Humphrey was a key to our being able to finish the game. She really settled in (after early-game foul trouble) and played defense. Lisa Bernardy did what we asked her to do defensively. She stayed in front of people and stayed in the lane. She was a calming influence.”

Goodwin said of his team as a whole, “Overall we played well. We turned the ball over too much, but the kids stayed the course. We played the whole game mentally and physically well, we hit key shots and made plays when it mattered.

This week the first round swing through the Central League concludes with a game Monday at Hoover and the next round begins with a Friday night contest at Christian.

Boys Basketball Beats Clairemont and Plays Crawford Tough

Coronado traveled to Clairemont Tuesday and came away with a 52-41 victory over the Chieftains. “We stole one,” said Head Coach Sandy Dillon of the game. “Moala Tatuaa, (Clairemont’s 6-foot-6-inch, 235-pound center) got two fouls in the first three or four minutes and we played pretty well. Matt Oakley, Geoffrey Worley, Chas Marks and Alex Rowan all played well. Alex keeps getting better and better.”

Statistically Marks had 18 points and seven rebounds, Oakley chipped in 12 points and six rebounds, while Rowan had eight points and five rebounds.”

The tougher opponent came to Coronado Friday night and that was Central League leader Crawford, which features 6-foot, 7-inch Tyrone Shelley. The Pepperdine-bound Shelley is averaging 32.7 points per game on the season.

Dillon employed a box-and-one defense (zone defense, with a man-to-man match up on Shelley) with senior Benson Lorden accepting the defensive assignment on Shelley. “Benson did a great job on Shelley,” Dillon said. “Benson didn’t make any mistakes or turn the ball over. He did really, really well.” The defensive pressure helped hold Shelley to a total of 16 points, well below his county-leading scoring average. With 3:50 remaining in the game, Coronado trailed 53-46 before the Colts went on a 10-0 run to eventually win the game 67-48.

Marks led Coronado with 16 points and seven rebounds; Oakley had 11 points and eight rebounds; while Cole McLean chipped in with 11 points and three rebounds. Worley played a fine floor game and had six points, five rebounds and two steals.

“I thought if we hit a couple of threes (three-point shots), it might loosen their defense up and we might get some 18-foot shots,” Dillon added. “We could be right there. I was actually really pleased with the team. In the first minute of the third quarter, all of a sudden it just clicked. Oakley really sucked it up. He was really tired. With four minutes left in the game, he knew it was winning time and he stayed out there and did a good job. I was most proud of the fact the kids don’t seem to want to give up. They just seem to want to compete.”

Coronado Middle School Spring Sports Registration Next Week

Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 6:30 pm, registration for the CMS spring sports season will be held at Granzier Hall. Spring sports offerings include Co-ed Track, Boys Lacrosse, Co-ed Tennis, Girls Basketball, plus Boys and Girls Water Polo. The registration fee is $90 per child, per sport. All pertinent ISF/CMS athletic forms may be downloaded from www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com. If you have questions, please call 435-1343 for additional information.

Track Team to Meet

For anyone interested in joining the CHS Track Team this year, there will be an organizational meeting Thursday, Feb. 1 at CHS Room 705 at noon. For more information, please contact Head Coach George Green at ggreen2@san.rr.com.