Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

4 March 2009 Issue #9

Coronado High School’s Girls Water Polo Team rode the last wave of momentum in a see-saw affair with their arch-rivals from The Bishop’s School, to secure the CIF San Diego Section CIF Division II crown by the score of 12-11 in overtime Saturday night. The two teams played three times this season, including Saturday night, with two of the three games going into overtime and the aggregate score being 30-29 in favor of the Islanders.

Coronado has now won the Division II title in consecutive seasons and the two teams have played each other in the CIF Division II final for five straight years.

The first quarter of the game was a 2-2 affair as Coronado goals were scored by Sidney Hoshko and Hillary Estrada. But the second seven-minute period saw Coronado run off four straight goals, with scores coming from Ashley Young, Shelby Couture, Kathryn Bailey and the second goal of the evening from Hoshko. A Bishop’s goal as the halftime buzzer sounded made the score 6-3, but you had the feeling that Coronado was in control of the game.

The third frame was relatively uneventful as the Knights scored once and the Islanders were held scoreless. But the third quarter proved to be the calm before the storm that was the final period of regulation play. Bishop’s Dominique Sardo scored her third goal of the evening 29 seconds into the final quarter, which was answered 22 seconds later on a penalty shot conversion by Young. With 4:44 remaining in the game, Coronado had possession of the ball, in a man-up scoring opportunity, while holding a 7-5 lead. All of that unraveled in a hurry.

Two quick scores by the Knights tied the game at 7-7 before Bailey found the net on a long line drive shot for her second goal of the night, one which gave Coronado a short-lived 8-7 lead. Bishop’s scored with 1:32 remaining and again with just under a minute to play to take a 9-8 lead.

When the leads started changing between the Islanders and the Knights, supporters of both teams who nearly filled the La Jolla High School Coggan Family Pool, were going crazy. With 42 seconds remaining in regulation, Bailey tied the game at 9-9 with her third goal and the place was up for grabs.

Prep water polo rules call for a five-minute intermission between the end of regulation time and the beginning of the first of the mandated two three-minute overtime periods. Both teams conferred with their coaching staffs quickly and were back in the water and ready to rumble roughly three minutes ahead of schedule.

The next momentum change went to the Knights as they scored twice in the first overtime period and frankly it appeared that the Islanders had lost their competitive fire. With Bishop’s leading 11-9, seemingly all they had to do was play steady defense and the CIF crown was theirs. Twenty-seven seconds into the second overtime, Estrada scored to give the Islander faithful some hope.

Then, The Shot.

With 1:45 remaining in the second overtime, junior Ashley Young converted on a back-hand sweep shot 25 feet away from the goal, taking everyone in attendance by surprise, except for maybe Young herself. That tied the game at 11-all and even an ardent Bishop’s fan had to admire both Young’s moxie for taking the shot, but also the skill to convert it in such a critical situation. After The Shot, Bishop’s was simply and assuredly not going to win the game.

With 55.55 seconds remaining in the game, Kelly Ronimus converted on a man-up situation for Coronado, which allowed the Islanders to take the 12-11 lead they would hold until the end. Coronado thus scored three goals in just over two minutes to complete the wildest of comebacks, earning the title.

Senior goalie Alex Adamson, who will continue her career at the University of Michigan in the fall, earned the victory in goal. She was credited with 12 saves and a steal. In addition to The Shot, Young accounted for a total of three Islanders goals, three assists, two steals, two field blocks and she drew one ejection.

Islander Head Coach Dave Throop took a dim view of Young’s repeated attempts at converting on the backhanded, long distance sweep shot, until Saturday evening at about 6:15 pm. “That was something, wasn’t it?”Throop said. “It was a shot she’s been practicing in shoot around situations and we discussed my lack of enthusiasm for it, but I said in a certain situation it would actually be wise, such as when she shot it.”

So, when faced with a situation when you are down two goals with three minutes remaining in a championship game, against your rivals, what coaching pearls of wisdom do you offer your team? “At the end of the first overtime period, I let the girls dictate the tone and temperament of our huddle,” Throop said. “I challenged the girls and told them there were three options at that point. The first is that we tie the game and play another (sudden victory) period. The second was that we would win the game and the third was that we would lose. I told them, ‘Well, if you’re afraid to lose, look at the scoreboard. We’re already losing. We have nothing to be afraid of from this point on’.”

Throop talked about his team in detail. “I believe that Ashley Young was the best all around player in the pool. Hillary Estrada has been playing at a level of understanding that is years ahead of her age. Alex Adamson didn’t have the greatest game, especially in the second half, but she made a terrific steal and critical saves in the final frame, when we needed them the most. Sidney Hoshko was what we had hoped and thought she could be, an absolute beast in the middle of the pool. Kathryn Bailey didn’t have a high shooting percentage Saturday, but a shooter shoots and she kept at it. Kelly Ronimus, Michelle Carroll, Maddie Murphy and Shelby Couture all played to their roles very well and that’s what we as a team would hope and expect.”

Vista was the winner of the Division I crown later Saturday night, a team which lost to Coronado 10-4 on January 24^th. Let’s go ahead and anoint the Islanders as the unquestioned champions of San Diego water polo.

Islander Boys Soccer Advances to Tuesday Showdown with Cathedral Catholic

The good news about getting a high seed in the soccer playoffs is that you get a first round bye. The bad news is that often a week passes between the end of the regular season and the quarter-final playoff game.

Friday night at home, in front of a large and supportive crowd of parents, community members and students, the No. 3 seeded Coronado Boys Soccer Team defeated Mission Bay 1-0 in overtime to advance to the Division III semi-finals. Tuesday night they will travel to Cathedral Catholic, to face the No. 2 seeded Dons. The contest will feature the reigning Division IV champion Coronado playing the defending Division III champs from Cathedral.

Had the phrase ‘The Shot’ not been already employed in this week’s column, it could have easily been used in conjunction with the game winning goal fired by senior Christian Herrera.

To set the stage, Coronado and Mission Bay had battled for 80 minutes up and down the field, with both teams having several scoring opportunities, but neither squad was able to convert.

“We had a great week of practice,” said Islander Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “The boys prepared well. In the first 15-20 minutes of the game, they had some jitters. But they raised their game a bit. They weren’t overawed. Since it is a young team, most of the guys haven’t played in front of that big a crowd, at any level. We knew Mission Bay was a good team. They have seven or eight seniors who start.”

Hiatt-Aleu addressed the absence of scoring, despite the up-and-down action. “I always tell Americans that a 0-0 game can be exciting. On both sides of the stadium, I don’t think anyone left. I thought it was a very entertaining game and one that was a lot of fun to be a part of.”

Since 80 minutes had transpired without a score, Your Natterer was prepared to wait through the 15-minute overtime period and proceed to the penalty kicks that often conclude CIF playoff games.

But Herrera had other ideas. Just 1:15 into overtime, Herrera, who is left-footed, planted his right foot and wheeled on a ball from 32 yards away from the goal and nailed a shot past the astonished Buccaneer goalie. The Coronado stands erupted and several group and individual rejoicing and hugging sessions broke out on the field among the players.

Herrera spent the fall as the placekicker on the Islander football team and earned First Team All Central League honors for his inaugural season of American prep football. But the high arching football kick is different from the form needed for a low, line drive futbol kick.

Hiatt-Aleu, who was a left-footed kicker during his playing days, worked with Herrera to get the height out of his kick, by hitting the top of the soccer ball, instead of the bottom of the football. “I had no problem with him playing football,” said Hiatt-Aleu of Herrera. “He was helping out the school and the team. But it changed his technique. We worked on driving the ball down low, hitting the ball on the upper half, while driving it hard and making it knuckle. You could feel the ball whizzing through the air.”

“Connor Marcone played with a cast on his arm,” continued Hiatt-Aleu. “He wasn’t going to miss this game. Peter Kittiyasawadi and Connor had great games. All of the boys stepped up and did what they had to do. We had a lot of boys come off the bench in the last 20 minutes of the first half. I was happy with their effort.”

Hiatt-Aleu previewed the game with Cathedral Catholic. “We haven’t played them this year and I think we’ll be a little more relaxed at Cathedral Tuesday. They are one of the top teams in the county every single year. They are a private school that attracts a lot of talent. I’ve seen them play and it will be a good game. It will be exciting.”

Islander Girls Soccer Dominates Southwest High School in Quarter-Finals

The opposite end of the ‘We’ve Been Off for a Whole Week’ concept was displayed by the CHS Girls Soccer Team Saturday night, as the No. 1 seed in Division III dominated Southwest 5-0 at home. At least it was the opposite end of the spectrum for minutes 12-80.

“Early on I was worried,” said Coronado Head Coach Kiko Medina. “We hadn’t played for a week and a half. We were forcing things in the beginning and we gave them some early counters and some early chances. We finally settled in and got into the game plan. We were being patient and finding the right matchups. We played good soccer the whole time and everyone got to play. The level of play never dropped.”

After batting the ball around as described above, the Islanders in the person of Cassie Callahan scored the first goal on a crossing pass by Mallory Mitchell. Eleven minutes later, Kaitlyn Couture scored on a nice pass from Mackenzie Coutts and Coronado was collectively off to the CIF semi-finals.

At the 32:02 mark, Allie Culora scored, and her effort was followed 3:03 later by another Islander goal, when Danielle Gillberg scored on an assist from Mitchell. Coronado had to wait until 3 minutes into the second half to get their fifth and final goal, a nice effort from Katie Centeno. Re-capping, the five Coronado goals were scored by three sophomores, a junior (Gillberg) and a freshman (Centeno).

Senior Andrea Davis shared the shutout in goal (48 minutes) with freshman Cory De Marco (32 minutes). Davis was challenged a couple of times in goal, recording a nice save 28:40 into the game, while the Islanders held a relatively slim 2-0 lead.

“I think Centeno had a great game,” Medina added. “She really created offensively for us. For a freshman, she has been maturing really well. She is a player we are really going to rely on in the years to come. After scoring her goal, you could really see her confidence increase.”

Now the Islanders advance to the semi-finals Wednesday night at home at 7 pm against Mission Bay. “They will give us more of a challenge,” Medina said of Coronado’s opponent. “We hope to move on to next Saturday and the finals.”

Islander Boys Basketball Season Ends With OT Loss at Parker

Wednesday evening, the Islander Boys Basketball Team hosted Olympian High School in the first round of the Division IV playoffs, which Coronado won 48-35 over the scrappy, but under-sized Eagles. It should come as no surprise that the Islander senior inside tandem of Krishna Samperio and Justin Parsons combined to dominate Olympian, with Samperio scoring 16 points and Parsons adding in 10.

Basically whenever the Islanders needed a big play, either Samperio grabbed the rebound or Parsons blocked a shot. Joining in the fun were Blake Malkemus with eight points, Justin Hebner with six, Danny Hebert added four points while Billy Schmitt and Brian Allen added two points each.

Having won their first round game, Coronado then had to travel Saturday to Francis Parker, the No. 2 seed in Division IV. The first quarter was tied at 10-all, but Coronado pushed out to a 26-20 lead at halftime. “We played a 3-2 zone,” said Coronado Head Coach Ken Caesar. “We gave up the elbow jump shot, but we had them. In the end, we didn’t finish. With eight seconds left in the game we’re up three points. We were up 12 at one point. Their guy shot the ball over one of his own players from far away and it went in to send the game into overtime. It was a good game and we let it get away.”

Parker outscored Coronado 9-3 in the overtime, to advance to the CIF semi-finals. The loss ended Coronado’s season with a record of 19-11.

“We outplayed them,” said Caesar, still emotional about the result more than 24 hours after the fact. “The thing that was sad was that we wanted to win the game because we wanted to show that we belonged. That was the toughest part about it. The players were all shook up. It probably hit Krishna the hardest, because he has come the farthest (in his development as a player). During the game, there were stretches when I have never seen him that emotional. He wanted to continue to play (into the playoffs) and he wanted it bad.”

Caesar knew he had received a great effort from his team. “Everybody played well. Brian Beverly gave us good minutes. Krishna played well. Danny Hebert was good and Chris Maskevich had some pretty good rebounds and was tough with the ball. It would have been nice to get to 20 wins. But we finished with a 9-3 record and second place in the Central League.”

Girls Basketball Team Loses to Francis Parker in First Round

One way to look at the Coronado Girls Basketball Team’s CIF First Round Playoff loss to Francis Parker is that by losing 27-26, the Islanders improved on their 30-point road loss to Parker from earlier in the season. Another view would be that with a couple of breaks, maybe even one, Coronado could have advanced on to the quarter-finals.

“Coming down the stretch, we missed some free throws and shots that would have given us the opportunity to move on,” said Coronado Head Coach Toler Goodwin. “I was pleased that the kids fought so hard throughout the game. We only had one small period when we lacked mental focus and that was during a 90 second period at the end of the second quarter. We had a collective defensive letdown. We were a little mentally fatigued and they were able to take advantage of it and get back into the game.”

With 1:05 remaining in the game, Islander sharpshooter Maggie Harris fired up a three-point attempt that everyone rooting for Coronado was sure was going to go in. “I thought it was down,” said Goodwin of the Harris shot. “It rattled out. When she shot it, I thought that’s it, we win.”

“We had trouble with consistency at the free throw line,” Goodwin added. “And we had trouble taking care of the ball in key moments. I wasn’t disappointed in the effort. The kids laid it out there.”

Senior Angela Strohbeck scored 10 points and added 15 rebounds. Freshman point guard Cory De Marco scored nine points and added seven rebounds.

Goodwin and Coronado (14-9 on the season) went with a starting lineup that included three freshmen, a junior (Harris) and a senior (Strohbeck). Goodwin concluded by saying, “We’re a young team and it was a good ending to the season.”

CHS Sailing Travels to Cardinal Regatta

Presumably part of the fun of being on the CHS Sailing Team is that you get to travel to some pretty nice places and the team was on the move recently to the Cardinal Regatta hosted by Stanford University. Head Coach Jon Rogers picks up the narrative. “The event proved to be challenging, with only one race completed Saturday because of very light and shifty winds.

However, on Sunday the approaching storm made for some interesting surges in the wind that would build up and then quickly vanish.

The CHS Gold Team consisted of Hans Henken, Philip Lozier, Kaitlin Dunphey, Karisa Chapa and CC Childers. With a seventh place among the varsity teams, we have solidified our spot in the Top 10 in California, with two regattas remaining.

The Silver Team of Sally Harris, Alex Wood, Alexa Cavalleri, Katie Dowling and Jenny Melnick placed 11^th out of the 27 JV teams.

The team travels to Santa Barbara (another tour of duty) for the Gaucho Regatta at UCSB in March and then will compete in the PCC Championships to be sailed in Mission Bay in April.” The CHSST is recruiting sailors for next season and would encourage you to contact Head Coach Jon Rogers at headcoach@coronadoyc.org for information on the team.

College Recruiting Presentation Coming Up

The Islander Sports Foundation is bringing Jack Renkens and his ‘Recruiting Realities’ presentation back to Coronado Monday, March 23^rd at 7:30 pm. There will be no admission fee charged for the presentation, which will be paid for by the ISF and will be held at the Coronado High School Theater.

Parents of Coronado Middle School and Coronado High School athletes and all student-athletes themselves are invited to attend. The community at large, including parents and athletes from Christ Church and Sacred Heart also invited to attend.

Circle the date on your calendar. The presentation, which lasts for a total of roughly 90 minutes, is a no-nonsense, realistic recruiting seminar from a former coach and parent, who knows the topic and presents the recruiting information in an entertaining fashion.