The Coronado High School winter sports teams all posted strong results since our last visit, but we’ll lead this week’s column with the Islander Girls Soccer Team. Roughly a year ago the Islanders were the San Diego Section CIF Division III runners-up and the 2009-10 team lists 14 returning players from that squad. In other words, the Islanders have talent here, there and everywhere.

“We’re carrying 18 players on the varsity this year,” said Coronado Head Coach Kiko Medina. “It’s an unbelievably solid roster of 18 players. I expect all of them to make a huge contribution. I could start a different lineup every game and not worry. It’s going to be a great year and the girls are working hard already. They are matching their team chemistry with intensity in our training sessions. I’m expecting a lot from them, but they know that. They’re ready for it.”

The returning roster received an added boost with the addition of two players new to the program, both members of the junior class. The rich getting richer, you might say. “Stephanie Hamilton has moved back to Coronado,” said Medina. “She grew up with a lot of the girls. She will play forward and she will get a lot of minutes. She has already scored quite a few goals. Our other transfer is Demi Waitley, who will play center-mid. Both of the players are really going to do well and be a huge part of the team.”

Some of the top returning players include four members of the junior class. Mallory Mitchell, will play outside midfield and center midfield if needed; Cassie Callahan will split time between sweeper and center midfield; forward and scoring threat Kaitlyn Couture; and Brianne Clifford who will play sweeper, or the last line of defense in front of the goalie. Clifford taking on the role of sweeper will enable Callahan to spend more time at midfield.

Returning seniors include center midfielder Danielle Gillberg and outside midfielder Stefanie Pietkiewicz. Sophomore Cory De Marco continues to live the dream as starting goalie on the soccer team and the starting point guard on the basketball team.

Last week Coronado launched their regular season with a stint in the Barons Tournament. “It was a tough week, but exactly what we wanted,” Medina said of the schedule Coronado faced in the tournament’s top division. “We tied Poway 1-1, lost to Bishop’s 2-0 and beat Torrey Pines 1-0. The results against those schools made a great week for us.” The schedule also tested Coronado’s fitness level, as the three games were played in consecutive days.

At this point in our season preview articles, we talk about who will pose a threat to the Islanders in the division and in the league. According to Medina, the answers to both questions this year is a familiar one to Coronado soccer fans - Cathedral Catholic. The Islanders will again compete in the Western League and in CIF Division III, where they will be matched against the Lady Dons in important games.

This week Medina and his merry band host El Capitan Tuesday at 5 pm, and then host Point Loma Thursday, also at 5 pm. To make sure they remain sharp, the Islanders play in the Lady Vaquero Classic Saturday. At 11 am they play Steele Canyon and at 5:30 pm they play Hilltop. Both contests will take place at Steele Canyon High School.

Islander Boys Soccer Blasts Off to 4-1 Start

The CHS Boys Soccer Team collectively sprung into action in their own tournament last week and had a nice run, advancing to the semi-finals. Their season started with a 1-0 win over Ramona, which like the Islanders, eventually reached the semis. Coronado’s goal in their season opener came courtesy of Jacob Lujan on an assist from Seth Willey.

In their second tournament game, the Islanders used two tallies from David Rodriguez and a single goal from Willy to defeat Santa Fe Christian 3-0. As was the case in the first game, the shutout was credited to goalie Patrick Toomey.

Game No. 3 was a 6-1 win over Southwest of Imperial. The game was unusual in the respect that the Islanders trailed 1-0 and then ran off six consecutive goals. Lujan and Paul Romero both scored two goals, with Riley Peterson adding one goal and Willey another.

Powered by those three wins, Coronado won their group and faced University City in the tournament semi-finals. The Islanders fell to the Centurions 4-0.

Saturday they played their fifth game of the week and defeated Mar Vista 5-0. “That was a good win for us,” said Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “We tied Mar Vista last year.” Toomey’s third shutout of the season was accompanied by single goals from each of five players including Eddie Vita, Sean MacKenzie, Jake Schwartz, Curtis Nixon and Willey.

This year the Islanders are led by Willey and Toomey, both seniors and Co-captains. Other seniors include center back Connor Marcone, a varsity player for four years; forward Eddie Vita who will receive a lot of time at midfield; stopper Jake Schwartz; and Paul Romero, who played for Coronado as a sophomore, and returns for his senior season as a center midfielder.

Juniors include defenders Tommy Hart, Ruben Perez, Sergio Flores and right midfielder Curtis Nixon. The squad also includes three freshmen, who according to Hiatt-Aleu will receive considerable playing time. That group consists of left midfielder Riley Peterson, forward Kyle Koshland and defender/midfielder Nathan Anderson. “Those three guys will get a lot of playing time,” Hiatt-Aleu said. “We look really small at times, but that is okay, because they can really play.”

According to Hiatt-Aleu the team’s opposition in the Central League will look familiar as Hoover, Clairemont, Crawford and Coronado should contend for the league crown. Hiatt-Aleu handicapped the league race by saying, “Hoover graduated a bunch of seniors and so did Clairemont. Everybody is going through a lot of changes.”

The Islanders will compete in Division III in Boys Soccer and the primary opposition there will be supplied by Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine and Canyon Crest. This week the Islanders host two games, which are the back half of double headers with the CHS Girls Varsity. Tuesday Coronado plays San Dieguito at 6:30 pm and Thursday they host El Capitan. For a scheduling twist, Monday the team will play Uxbridge from Quebec, Canada.

Girls Water Polo Posts  Strong Week

Two weeks ago the CHS Girls Water Polo team opened their regular season with a one-sided loss to Newport Harbor, but rebounded nicely this week with an 11-9 overtime win against La Jolla in a Western League game. That was followed Saturday by a 6-4 victory over Long Beach Wilson.

“We have a friendly rivalry with La Jolla,” Islander Head Coach Dave Throop explained. “Their better players play with us in the off season and our National Team players know each other well. La Jolla is pretty talented this year. They played well.”

Ashley Young led the way for Coronado with five goals, with Sydney Hoshko adding two scores. Single goals were scored by Maddie Murphy, Shelby Couture, and Hillary Estrada. Goalie Colleen Moore was credited with two steals and 12 saves. “Colleen is playing herself into being a solid varsity goalie. That was especially evident against Long Beach Wilson,” Throop said.

After a tough several days of practice, it was time to play Long Beach Wilson, and Throop knew his team was ready. “Friday was our best day of practice in a long time and our Saturday morning workout was awesome. The goal is to make the practices as much like games as possible and Friday and Saturday that is exactly what they did. Their motivation was really good. I have to give credit to our White Team, especially goalie Brooke Bernardy for challenging Moore. They really took it to their teammates and made a difference.”

Hoshko scored three goals against Long Beach Wilson, Young scored twice and Couture once to account for Coronado’s offensive production. The team also had nine steals. “Moore played really, really well in goal,” Throop added. “She had 10 saves and a steal. Some of her saves were pretty remarkable. She helped us to a lot of opportunities going the other way. Colleen was our catalyst defensively. Long Beach has a phenomenal goalie and it was like a pitchers’ duel.”

Throop assessed his team’s recent progress. “I like what we are doing. We are starting to get more active and we’re starting to realize we have to do more, and do it a little faster. We have a pretty brutal schedule, but I think we can handle it. By the end of the month we will have played teams ranked one through six in the CIF Southern Section. There couldn’t be a tougher schedule in girls water polo. We have some challenges and some work ahead of us.”

Friday the team travels to Santa Barbara. They will play Dos Pueblos Friday and Santa Barbara on Saturday.

Boys Basketball Splits Four Games in Small Schools Tourney

It was an up and down week for the CHS Boys Basketball Team last week, as they opened their season in the annual Small School Tournament, hosted by La Jolla Country Day. The week started on a decidedly ‘up’ note as the Islanders defeated highly regarded Army-Navy Academy 43-30.

First year varsity head coach J.D. Laaperi was ready for this one. “We spent four or five practices on Army-Navy and we played them in a zone on defense. I was figuring that early in the season, they hadn’t had much time to practice against the zone. They couldn’t hit an outside shot and every time they went inside, we doubled them with Josh McNeal. We hit some big shots in the third quarter and Justin Hebner had a nice night with 26 points on 22 shots. He took good shots. We wanted to cut the game in half as much as possible. We waited until 15 seconds were left on the shot clock to take the shot and we often made it.”

Game two of the tournament was a 46-26 loss to host La Jolla Country Day. Coronado trailed by only seven points at the half, but tired legs and yielding too many second shot opportunities to LJCD was the difference in this contest.

Friday night the Islanders lost to Bonita Vista 61-43. “Bonita Vista released a player as soon as we shot the ball,” Laaperi said. “And we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well.”

Saturday the Islanders avenged their two previous defeats, whipping up on Calvin Christian 54-31 to even their record at 2-2 this season. Hebner scored 17; McNeal had nine points; Danny Hebert and Billy Schmitt scored eight points each; Chris Maskevich and Hunter Ralph added four apiece; Bryan Beverly and Eric McAdam added two points each.

Laaperi discussed his club’s performance. “Schmitt played well in all four games and in three of the games he was up against some really big guys. He rebounded well, was blocking some shots and keeping the other teams’ bigs from scoring. McNeal had several turnovers in the first two games. I talked to him and told him to slow down a little bit. In the last two games he had 11 steals and only two turnovers. Hebert, our point guard, was our leading rebounder in three of the four games we played and our shooting guard Hebner was the rebounding leader in the fourth game. Danny had 10 rebounds against Army-Navy and Hebner had nine against Calvin Christian. Our guards are doing a nice job rebounding.”

This week the Islanders play Friday night at home against Steele Canyon at 7 pm. Saturday the team plays Sweetwater High School at 3 pm in a tournament game to be played at Mar Vista. If the Islanders win, they will face the winner of Santa Fe Christian vs. Oceanside.

Islander Girls Basketball Wins Lone Game

Comparatively speaking, the Islander Girls Basketball Team had a slow week, playing one varsity game. The good news was that the Islanders handled Castle Park handily 45-26. Coronado went about securing the victory in an unusual fashion, as they trailed Castle Park 14-7 at the end of the first quarter and then outscored the Lady Trojans 21-0 in the second frame.

“They had a big girl who hurt us,” explained Coronado Head Coach Toler Goodwin. “She picked up her third foul a minute into the second quarter. Then Cory De Marco had a couple of baskets in transition from steals. Katiani Lynch had a steal and an assist. Alex Evans had a steal and a finish, as did Cory. Then Cory hit a three-pointer that pulled us even. We got on a run and had free throws from Peri Curtis, then Maggie Harris had a steal, a layup and was fouled for a three-point play. Castle Park seemed really out of sequence when their center went out. At the end of the first half, Cory dribble penetrated into the lane and kicked out a pass to Maggie who drained at three at the horn. We did the things we needed to do.”

The game also featured a rare girls high school four-point play. Evans was fouled as she attempted and made a three-pointer and converted the free throw.

“Maggie had four three-pointers and 16 points,” Goodwin said as he recapped the Islanders’ scoring. “Curtis had eight points. Cory had 11 points and six assists. Evans led us with seven rebounds. Scoring two points each were Lynch, Evans, Coco Abrantes, and Meganne Weissenfels.”

This week the Islanders host San Ysidro Wednesday, with the JV playing at 5 pm and the Varsity scheduled to play at 6:30 pm. “We’ll have five or six days of practice before our trip to San Francisco after the holidays,” Goodwin said. The team will participate in the West Coast Jamboree in San Francisco from Dec. 28-31.

Islander Baseball Reminder

A quick reminder note that the CHS Baseball program, under the direction of Head Coach Sam Ceci, will be holding their annual Alumni Game Saturday, December 26th at 11 am at Strand Field. The criterion for participation in the game is basically if you can hold a bat, the coaching staff will get you in the game.

Batting practice and the fun, both coincidentally start at 9:30 am and as has been the tradition for these events, hot dogs and hamburgers are supplied to the attendees after the game. “All former Coronado High School players are welcome,” Ceci said. “Especially the old ones.” For more information on the CHS Alumni Game, please contact Coach Ceci at 435-0854.

San Diego Chargers Thoughts

We haven’t delved into the San Diego Chargers season in recent weeks, largely because getting an accurate read on them was surprisingly difficult for Your Natterer. After Week Six of the season, and their horrific home showing against the Denver Broncos which the Chargers lost 34-23, making the playoffs seemed out of the question with their 2-3 record.

They then entered the period of their schedule against the Chiefs and Raiders when they played like the only two teams in the NFL they could defeat were the hapless gridiron entries from Kansas City and Oakland. Fast forward to mid-December and the cute little Chargers of mid-October are now playing like modern day versions of Vercingetorix and the Gauls. (There’s a potentially good title for a French male rock group.)

San Diego now owns the fourth best record in the NFL (10-3) and are the winners of eight straight. Moreover, their three remaining games which include at home against Cincinnati, at Tennessee and their final regular season home contest with Washington, are all very winnable. If the Chargers win out, they will be the No. 2 seed in the AFC and earn a first round bye in the playoffs.

Charger quarterback Philip Rivers is having a Pro Bowl season and is currently ranked third in passing behind Drew Brees of New Orleans and the seemingly ageless Brett Favre of Minnesota. The Charger receiving corps of tight end Antonio Gates and wide receivers Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd may be the best pass catching unit in the NFL. Both Jackson and Gates will well exceed 1,000 yards in receiving yardage this season.

The bad news comes on two fronts. First the Chargers are ranked No. 31 out of 32 teams in team rushing yards and average a scant 3.2 yards per carry. Their rushing yards per game is also ranked No. 31 in the NFL. To date their passing game has been so potent that it has overcome the need for consistent ground game. Let’s be honest, Hall of Fame bound LaDainian Tomlinson has lost a step and the offensive line doesn’t run block well.

Problem No. 2 is that the Charger defense has been just good enough to win. Three average NFL defensive linemen wearing Charger uniforms have combined to be a stopgap measure for Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams, who is out for the season. Injuries have hit the defensive line and linebackers particularly hard. At some point talent steps to the fore and having playmakers on defense is almost as important a concept as having game breakers on offense in the modern NFL.

Having the bye week before starting the playoffs would be particularly important for the Chargers to rest several players who need to recover from major injuries. There are no great teams in the NFL this season. New Orleans and Indianapolis are undefeated, but both teams have won squeakers they could and should have lost. The team that gets hot at the end of the season could win it all. If the Chargers keep their current team healthy and the wounded get better, having a hot quarterback can carry a team a long way in the playoffs.