Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson Back to Index

15 December 2010 Issue #50

Islander Boys Soccer continued its winning ways last week and in the process captured a tournament title and ran their overall record to 6-0. Due to the fact they lost a host of seniors from last season’s playoff team, the squad’s early-season success managed to sneak up on at least one observer with a vested interest.

“I’m a little surprised,” said Coronado Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu. “I was figuring this year we would be a bit more of a grind-it-out kind of team, where we would be mentally tough, be physical and score on our set plays. We’re mainly going to be a pretty straight forward team with few surprises. We’re really focusing on executing well and it paid off during the tournament. We’re getting more than 50 percent of our goals on set plays, like long throw-ins, corner kicks or free kicks.”

Wednesday Coronado defeated San Ysidro 4-0 in the Gold Bracket Finals of the Coronado Islander Invitational, paced by two goals from Ryan Keeney, and one each from Tommy Hart and Kyle Koshland. Senior goalie Jake Nicholson was credited with the shutout.

Nicholson, who was last seen careening around the CHS Gymnasium as the starting setter on the Boys Volleyball Team, earned kudos from Hiatt-Aleu. “Jake has great athletic ability and he played soccer when he was young. Jake did a great job in the tournament.” Nicholson figures to share time in goal in the future with Ricardo Diaz, a recent transfer from Florida, who was recently cleared by the CIF San Diego Section office to compete for Coronado.

This year the Islanders are quite young by their normal standards. Six seniors are on the squad, including Ruben Perez-Burton, the aforementioned Hart, Sergio Flores and Curtis Nixon. Kyle Runyon, who was injured and missed all of of the last soccer season, is one of the two starting forwards in the Islander offense.

The junior class includes Nate Hoffman, Luke Hoffman and Keeney. Sophomores numerically outnumber all of the other classes and include Nathan Andersen, Jack Gold, Drew Maracle, Andrew Orozco, Matthew Ovrom, Jack Perkins, Riley Peterson, and Alejandro Wiley. Sophomore Koshland teams with Runyon at the forward position and has scored at least one goal in each Coronado game. The lone freshman varsity member is Martin Dykstra.

The sixth game of the season was a one-sided affair between Coronado and River Valley High School. “It was 3-0 after the first five minutes,” said Hiatt-Aleu. “I pulled our starters and let the young ones play.”

This year Coronado drops from Division III to Division IV as a result of the CIF attempting to add more teams to the post-season playoffs. Hiatt-Aleu adds an interesting perspective on his team’s divisional change. “Division III is loaded every year and there are all kinds of teams that are good. There are 10 teams which could beat each other on any given day. In Division IV there are normally four teams that can do that. But Division IV has some very good teams. Mater Dei is always good and Crawford has moved in to Division IV and they are a strong team. Six years in a row we have made either the CIF semi-finals or finals. I think the players put those expectations on themselves. The rest of Division IV is probably not too happy to see us there.”

The Islanders will compete in the Central League again, a loop which includes Crawford, Hoover, Lincoln, Clairemont, Christian and Coronado. “Lincoln was young last year and might surprise,” Hiatt-Aleu said. “The competition will likely come from Crawford, Hoover and Clairemont. It looks like the same one-goal games, home and away. That’s usually how it goes.”

This week the Islanders travel to Army-Navy for a game Tuesday at 3 pm. Friday night they host Mt. Miguel at 6:30 pm.

Coronado Girls Soccer Holds 0-1-3 Mark

Coming off of their Division III CIF title last year, Islander Head Coach Kiko Medina knew his CHS Girls Soccer Team would be loaded with talent again this season. As a result, he stepped up the competition level considerably, especially in the non-conference schedule of games. Years ago the program competed in the mid-levels of the Barons Tournament at this time of year. This season they stepped up to the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament and got to play a pair of North County Division I teams.

The first game out of the box was a 0-0 tie with Torrey Pines. “That was a good result for us,” Medina said. “Torrey Pines is always in the Top 10. We played well and did a lot of good things.”

Coronado’s second game was a 4-2 loss to Carlsbad, a contest the Islanders led 1-0 at the half. Medina elaborated on the plays of note. “We went up early on a set piece from a free kick. Mallory Mitchell scored on a pass from Stephanie Hamilton. Then Carlsbad tied it up. We scored next on a great play from the midfield to the top of the box by Hamilton, who didn’t force anything. She passed to Cassie Callahan, who scored on a great one-touch shot into the far side of the netting. That put us up 2-1.”

Then things unraveled a tad, as Medina explained. “We had a freak penalty kick call from the referee. Cory DeMarco (Islander goalie) came out of the net to the top of the box and dipped her shoulder to protect herself. Olivia Nebo (backup netminder) had to go in because Cory got yellow-carded and Olivia almost got a hand on the penalty kick. It was hard for us to recover. They got a cheap goal at the end when we were pushing numbers forward. It was unfortunate that they got that call.”

Through the miracle of digital video (shot by Lorton Mitchell), the internet and a well-placed phone call (to Don Woodhouse), I watched a replay of the penalty kick call. If anything, Medina showed remarkable restraint in his description of the play and the poor yellow card call on De Marco by the referee.

In the tournament finale for Coronado, they faced Great Oak of Temecula and tied them 1-1. “Great Oak is a playoff team every year,” noted Medina. “We were out of the tournament and I wanted to give the JV players a chance to prove themselves. To start the season with those results and show well was great for us.” Olivia Lillegraven scored the Islander goal against Great Oak.

Medina discussed the contributions from several of his players. “DeMarco played phenomenally well all weekend. In the Carlsbad game she had one of the best saves I have seen at any level. One of their girls struck a ball and drove it to the far post. Cory was at full extension, got a hand on it and pushed it wide. It was a great play. Cassie and Stephanie have been playing extremely well. We had a lot of injuries from the weekend. If we stay healthy and focus 100 percent, we should have a good showing against Westview Tuesday. They are a tough team from Division II.”

Mix in an early season scoreless tie with El Capitan the team now stands at 0-1-3 for the season. “December record-wise could be really tough for us,” Medina added. “But obviously we are planning for the future and having a good run in the CIFs. For us to be challenged every single game and have to perform at that level will only benefit us. When we face a team like Beckman in the regionals (the Islanders regionals opponent in 2010), we hope to get the result this time.”

CHS Girls JV Soccer Wins Barons Event

The CHS Girls JV Soccer Team won the JV division of the 31st Annual Barons Classic Soccer Tournament, which was played at both Bonita Vista and Hilltop High Schools.  The Islanders defeated Santa Fe Christian 3-1 in the title game. 

The team is coached by Alea DeSantis and Rosie Tantillo. The team Manager is Loren Bachard. Team members include: Ashley Lillegraven, Emma Pietkiewicz, Christa Bucklew, Karina Alvarez, Ashley Engelman, Quinci Bryant, Gabby Quinlan, Lauren Ramirez, Madison Montague, Brooke Voorhies, Vanessa Tortolero, and Ashley Bennett.

Girls Water Polo Splits Pair of Games

The Girls Water Polo Team played twice last week and gave as good as they got, splitting the two games. Head Coach Dave Throop supplies the narrative.“Thursday we hosted Carlsbad at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center and beat a good team by the score of 6-5. 

Prior to the season, I believed we would be ranked in the Top 5 in the county with Vista and Bishops, La Jolla and Carlsbad all ahead of us in couplets.  We've been able to best both La Jolla and Carlsbad in the early going, but as we've discussed as a team, if we're happy and content in December, then we will fall short of our goal which is to become the best team we can become by the end of the season. We are an inexperienced team with a lot of new, key players in expanded roles and that was evident in our play so far this season. 

In the Carlsbad game, we went up 2-1 in the first quarter and were tied at the half. A scoreless third quarter and a two-goal run in the fourth allowed us a nice buffer before giving up a late goal to make the final score 6-5.  Hannah Green and Shelby Couture led the team in goals scored with two apiece, while Kendall Hoshko and Kendall Martin each scored once.  Green also had three steals in the game.  Brooke Bernardy had two steals and eight saves to lead the defensive effort. 

We've done an alright job limiting the other team's power plays, holding Carlsbad to two goals in seven attempts, but it's a little disconcerting to be in that much foul trouble considering our inexperience and lack of depth.  We will have to focus on preventing ourselves from getting out of position and allowing the referees to penalize our poor positioning. That will be addressed over time.

Saturday we traveled to the Los Alamitos Joint Armed Forces Base, also known as the USA Water Polo headquarters, and played an experienced Long Beach Wilson squad.  We played well at times, and caught Long Beach a little bit off guard as we opened the first quarter up 2-1.

But, we had some foul trouble and Long Beach's experience allowed them to go on runs of four, three and four goals in the next three quarters. We scored one, one and four goals in the final frame to lose by a final score of 12-8. 

As a traditional powerhouse, Long Beach is well prepared and well coached and they have three very talented players who were able to expose some areas we need to improve upon defensively.  Having said that, we had opportunities, but some basic mistakes and being off balance influenced our scoring chances.  In other words, we can't score if we don't put shots on goal, as opposed to over the cage.

For the game, Couture led the team with three goals, with Green and Martin scoring twice each. Hoshko scored as well.  Bernardy had six saves in the goal for the team.   

I believe we're heading in the right direction.  We're young, but we're capable of improvement.  With a record of 2-2 for the season thus far, I'm encouraged by what I see with this team. We will just continue to grind it out and focus on improving.

As CHS Alumnus and Olympian Genai Kerr's Jamaican father Roy Kerr says "Day by day mon". With the context of a couple games under our belts, we have a chance to refocus and begin to work on the minutia, the details which separate the good teams from the rest.” The Islanders return to action at the BBMAC Friday at 5 pm when they host Mater Dei of Santa Ana.

Boys Basketball Competes in West Hills Tourney

Like several of his Coronado coaching contemporaries, Head Boys Basketball Coach J.D. Laaperi has upgraded his pre-season competition level this year. The Small Schools Tournament, which was an annual event that Coronado often competed in, has been replaced by the West Hills Tourney. Last week the Islanders went 1-2 against Scripps Ranch, St. Augustine and the host institution West Hills.

First up were the Falcons and according to Laaperi, “We were actually up for a good majority of the game. They had one guy inside who was good and he took over in the fourth quarter. We missed 10 free throws and lost by four points. Danny Hebert and Justin Hebner had the best games of anyone who played for Coronado.”

The final score was 50-46 and Hebert scored a team-high 17 points, followed by Harley Ralph with 12 and Hebner with nine. Chris Banks contributed nine rebounds and Billy Schmitt had seven rebounds, all on the offensive end of the floor.

Friday night the Islanders tangled with the Saints and fell 62-45. Coronado’s backcourt of Hebert and Hebner combined for 29 of Coronado’s 45 points. “Banks and Schmitt played well, although neither of them started,” Laaperi said. “We couldn’t deal with their size. St. Augustine was huge. Their first two bigs went out and they bring in two more players who are just as big and strong. Their size finally took over. We gave up 15 offensive rebounds in the second half.”

The third game of the week was the tournament’s fifth place game and featured Coronado playing against West Hills on the Wolf Pack’s home floor. The Islanders emerged with a 65-55 victory, which featured a 22-point effort from Ralph. “For some reason, Harley was our only player whose legs weren’t tired,” Laaperi said of the junior small forward. “He was shooting well and going to the basket well. It was good to see him put together four good quarters for the first time. Brice Robell and Luke Gillingham both played their best games. Luke played really well and had five of our first seven points of the game. Brice had 10 rebounds, plus a couple of blocks and steals. I told Brice after the game, ‘We need someone who can have an entry all the way across the stats sheet’ and he did that for us Saturday.”

Things got exciting at the game’s end as Coronado, which held a 26 point lead at one point, let the margin close to six points with 90 seconds left to play. Laaperi admitted that he was poised over the panic button. “I looked at the clock every 30 seconds, but we made some free throws and time ran out on them. Anytime at the end of a tournament, when you have tired legs and beat the home team, you’re doing something right.” For his efforts Coronado point guard Danny Hebert was named to the All-Tournament Team.

This week the Islanders are off until Friday evening when they host Mar Vista at 6:30 pm. The following week Coronado will play in the Sweetwater Tournament.

Islander Girls Basketball Returns to the Court This Week

While their male counterparts were wearing out California Highway 52 to West Hills and back last week, the Islander Girls Basketball Team had the week off from competition. That was due primarily to a scheduling issue, as Coronado hosts a JV Tournament annually which uses a lot of the available floor time at the CHS gym.

So Coronado Head Coach Toler Goodwin did the next best thing, which was to practice with the leftover time. He identified a problem area with the team and worked on it.

“We practiced maybe an hour a day, with a lot of shooting. We’re trying to improve our shooting as we haven’t been scoring like we want. We let some of the younger (varsity) players compete in the JV tournament. We had some decent time on the practice court, but not a lot of continuity.”

This week the Islanders host Orange Glen Tuesday and host Hilltop Thursday. Both games are scheduled for a 7 pm tipoff.

Boys’ Water Polo Post Season Honors and Awards

The final banquet of the fall sports season was held last week, and that distinction belonged to the Islander Boys’ Water Polo Team. Starting with the youngest players first, the Novice Team awards were distributed as follows:  Most Valuable Player Defense – Javier Gomez; MVP Offense – Cheyne Merrill and Ryan Geer; Most Valuable Player – David Carroll; Team Captains – Doron Peled and Blaze Laroe; Most Improved – Jake Bisson and Justin Meek; Coaches Award – Calvin Storm.

The Junior Varsity awards went to: Team MVP – Joe Rodgers; MV Offense – Michael Bigham; Team Captain – Christian Dudley; Most Improved – Christian Hoppe; and Coaches Award – Joseph Pack.

The Varsity awards as announced by Head Coach Randy Burgess included: Most Valuable Player – Garrett Sabesky; MV Offense – Patrick Geer; MV Defense – Van Burgess; Team Captains – Braydon Hummeldorf, Geer and Burgess; Most Improved – Nick Wiley; Coaches Award – Tommy Grall; Golden Tassel for Highest Team GPA – Hummeldorf; For the Love of the Game Award – Hummeldorf; and the ISF Award – Garrett Smerdon.

Geer and Burgess earned Western League First Team honors, while Sabesky and Grall were both named to the Second Team. Smerdon was named to the Western League Third Team.

The banquet program included an address from U.S. Water Polo National Team member Brian Alexander. The general themes of Alexander’s inspirational talk included personal goal setting and overcoming adversity.

Water Polo Clinic Dates Announced

Proving once again that the sun never sets on water polo, the CHS Head Coach Randy Burgess and the Coronado Aquatics Club will be hosting their Winter Water Polo Camp next week. The camp, which will feature CHS Alumnus and USA Olympian Genai Kerr, is actually two one-day events which will be held Dec. 20 and 21 from 9 am to 1 pm.

The camps provide in-water instruction designed to make an immediate impact on an athlete’s game. Young athletes will have the opportunity to learn firsthand how Olympic athletes train, meet their nutritional needs and balance their lives. For more information, call 877-824-POLO or contact Coach Burgess at rburgess@znet.com.

CHS Baseball Alumni Game Set for Dec. 26th

A reminder that the CHS Baseball Program will hold their Alumni Game Sunday, Dec. 26th, according to Islander Head Coach Sam Ceci. Batting practice will be held at 10 am and the game itself will start at noon.

Although the number of participants tends to favor the more recent Islander grads, Ceci is making a push to get the older alumni to participate. “If any of the older guys need them, we have gloves and hats they can use. We have plenty of bats. We just want all of the former players to come and be part of it.”

One minor change in the format is that the baseball program is requesting a $10 donation for the players’ lunch which follows the game. The game format is loosely based on the current high school players competing against the alumni. For more information regarding the Alumni Game, please contact Coach Ceci at 435-0854.

Final North County Times Prep Football Poll Results

The smoke has cleared from the recent CIF Football Playoffs and the final “North County Times Prep Football Poll” has been released. The poll is the collective result of input from 21 sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout the county.

The final poll results are: No. 1 Vista; No. 2 Oceanside; No. 3 Helix; No. 4 Cathedral Catholic; No. 5 Eastlake; No. 6 Madison; No. 7 Mission Hills; No. 8 Mira Mesa; No. 9 Valley Center and No. 10 Torrey Pines.

Chargers Dominate AFC West Leading Chiefs 31-0

Sunday afternoon while planted in front of the fitty on the ground level of Natterings World Headquarters, three thoughts ran (okay, shuffled) through my mind while watching the San Diego Chargers dominate the Kansas City Chiefs.

First, I find it hard to believe that Chiefs backup quarterback Brodie Croyle, who played collegiately at Alabama and is in his fifth pro season, can be this bad. Croyle completed seven of 17 passes for a total of 40 yards and had a quarterback rating of 48.9. Contrast that stat with the passer rating turned in by Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, which was 114.2 against the Chiefs.

Second, where was this version of the Chargers last week against the Raiders?

Third, will the putrid or the dominant Chargers show up for Thursday night’s home game against the San Francisco 49ers? That’s it. One major thought per hour is all that is allotted for an NFL broadcast.