Occasionally a sporting event lives up to the pre-game hype. In this particular case, we’re talking about the Islander Girls Soccer Team’s 3-0 victory over Cathedral Catholic Friday night. Admit it, you thought we were talking about Super Bowl LXV.

Entering Western League play a week ago, Coronado trailed Cathedral Catholic by a game in the standings, primarily due to the Islanders’ 1-0 road loss to the Lady Dons on Jan. 21. But things took a definite turn Coronado’s way early in the week when Cathedral played a scoreless tie at La Jolla, and the Islanders were 3-0 winners at home against Christian.

Let’s return to the beginning of the week, when Coronado handily defeated Christian. “I was really worried about the girls looking ahead to Friday,” said Head Coach Kiko Medina of his team. “I reminded them that Friday wouldn’t mean anything without a (positive) result Wednesday against Christian. We missed a couple of sitters, but we finished when we needed to, which was nice. The big thing was Stephanie Hamilton finally getting her goal. Friday night she wasn’t shy and she had her confidence renewed.”

Hamilton has been mentioned frequently in this column during the soccer season, but usually for assists to teammates. According to Medina, Hamilton who is one of the team’s senior forwards, scored early in the season, but couldn’t find the back of the net recently. True to form, Coronado’s first goal against the Patriots was by Olivia Lillegraven from a Hamilton assist.

Medina then described the team’s second goal. “It was a nice little buildup off of a corner kick that bounced around. We regained possession and Olivia laid it back at an angle to Kaitlyn Couture, who showed well and had a one-touch finish.”

Hamilton scored the game’s final goal. “Stephanie’s motor never stops and she worked really hard. She took two or three players on around the 18 (yards from the goal) and had a great left-footed shot. Finally the pressure was off and the bench erupted. She had been involved in the offense and was a threat, but hadn’t been able to finish. It was a really big deal for her to get the goal. Everyone played well Wednesday night. As a team everybody understands what they need to do and they’re getting it done.”

For two weeks Coronado has been looking for revenge against Cathedral and Friday night’s game provided evidence of that. The Islanders scored three goals in the first 14 minutes of the game. The scores came on a series of picturesque shots that would make any highlight reel proud. Medina knew this would be a big game. “We stressed tempo. Cathedral was busy the last time we played. The first tackle had to be ours. The bottom line was the girls knew they had a chance to redeem themselves. We stepped up and got it done.”

A Hamilton assist to Lillegraven opened the scoring for Coronado with 36:01 remaining in the first half. The goal originated on a swift counter-attack and a shot taken by Lillegraven from a sharp angle to the net.

A mere two minutes and 16 seconds later, Coronado scored on a beautiful through ball from Couture to Hamilton for the second goal. Couture hit the ball on a line that traveled roughly 20 yards, found Hamilton on the other end of the pass and she converted for the goal. With 26:10 left in the half, Mallory Mitchell had a direct free kick from well outside the 18, which found the far, upper corner of the net for a goal.  Cathedral seemed shocked at the suddenness of the Coronado offensive attack.

When asked about his strategy with a three-goal lead, Medina said, “In the first half we wanted one more goal. I did kind of have our center-mid sit a little bit. In the second half I expected Cathedral to have three players up top. I figured with eight players behind the ball, including three players in the back, that was enough. With our speed up top I thought we could squeeze one more goal. The priority was to defend and to not give up a goal.”

In the second half of the game, Cathedral came out more aggressively. At approximately the midway point of the half, Couture made a hard, legal tackle on a Cathedral forward. Medina said, “That tackle said it all. We knew we were going to win, but we didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of a goal.” Cory De Marco had five saves in goal for Coronado against Cathedral and earned the shutout victories in both games last week.

Due to an odd number of teams in the league, their records reflect a different total of games played, but Cathedral is currently 5-1-1 with three games remaining and Coronado is 5-1 with four regular season games remaining. The really good news from a Coronado perspective is that figures to be the last time the two clubs meet this year as Cathedral will compete in CIF Division III and Coronado is in Division IV.

Monday the Islanders host the Academy of Our Lady of Peace at 6:30 pm. Wednesday is an important game when Coronado (8-5-3) travels to University City for a 3 pm contest.

Boys Soccer Ups Record to 17-1

If you were looking for free-flowing, Brazilian-style soccer game, you probably didn’t find that during either of the two Coronado Boys Soccer contests last week. More importantly, the Islanders defeated Monte Vista 1-0 and followed that contest with a 1-0 win over Crawford. The latter victory allowed the Islanders (17-1 overall, 6-1 in league) to remain on top of the Central League by a half game over Hoover.

Islander Head Coach Brian Hiatt-Aleu, whose team has outscored opponents 60-4 this season, was typically succinct in recapping the Monte Vista game. “We were flat. Kyle Koshland got bumped in the box with 20 minutes left in the game. Tommy Hart converted on the penalty kick. The game was boring. It was like watching paint dry. We have lots of injuries and in the second half, we played guys who should have had the night off. We got the penalty kick and held on from there. I was disappointed in the effort from everybody. Everyone was waiting for someone else to do something.”

Firsthand experience tells me that Thursday night wasn’t Coronado’s soccer version of Carnival either, but this contest had a unique twist to it. With Kyle Runyon and Riley Peterson on the bench due to injuries, the Islanders entered the game already down a couple of players. One minute into the game, Coronado’s starting goalie Ricardo Gonzalez-Diaz sustained an injury and after three minutes on the ground, was helped to the bench. Islander back-up goalie Jake Nicholson then went into the contest.

About 10 minutes later, Gonzalez-Diaz re-entered the game to play forward, a position he played at his former high school in Florida.  He had also occasionally played the position in practice in Coronado. “It was an instinct I had,” explained Hiatt-Aleu as to why he played his keeper at forward. “I figured we needed to make a change and move things around a little bit.”

Long story short, with less than two minutes remaining in the first half, Gonzalez-Diaz made a series of nice moves with the ball and scored the lone goal of the game. Another nice offensive run later in the game by Gonzalez-Diaz resulted in a goal that was called back for him being offside. Hiatt-Aleu later returned Gonzalez-Diaz to the goal with two minutes remaining in the contest. Nicholson played goalie for 37 of the game’s 40 minutes, so let’s give him most of the credit for the shutout.

Hiatt-Aleu noted the contributions of Sergio Flores to the Islanders win over Monte Vista and complimented Nate Hoffman for playing well against Crawford. “Ricardo came in and scored the goal and had really nice energy on the second goal that was called back. Thursday we showed a little more character and had a little stronger work ethic. We did the things we talked about tactically and we played with high energy. I had no problem with that. We let the other team hang around and that’s always dangerous.”

This week the Islanders travel to Madison Tuesday for a 3 pm game. Coronado’s big game comes Thursday at home at 6 pm when they host Hoover in a match that will likely determine the Central League champion. The Islanders have just four regular season games remaining.

Islander Boys Basketball Team’s Mark Now 21-4

Last week the Islanders kept their Central League record spotless and defeated Crawford 71-49 on 35 points from junior guard Danny Hebert. Other stats leaders against the Colts included Justin Hebner with nine assists, Hebert with six steals and Billy Schmitt with 15 rebounds.

But the big news was Hebert, who was 12-21 from the field, 1-3 from behind the three-point line and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Head Coach J.D. Laaperi liked what he saw from the junior shooting guard. “Danny played really well. He got a lot of points off of quick breaks or steals and then breaks. He had a good all-around game and he came out ready to go. He found some success early in the game getting to the basket and continued it all night long.”

Laaperi also noted the work put in by Schmitt, Coronado’s starting center. “They have two guys Billy’s size and he did a good job on them. Especially important were his 15 rebounds. Assistant Coach Greg Johnson and I thought that this might be a trap game, because the score was so lopsided the first time we played them. The score at the end of the first quarter was 21-18 in favor of Coronado, but we added eight or nine points in each of the next three quarters.”

Historically the Islanders have not played well at Point Loma, but the Islanders had a strong result Friday night on the road with a 52-44 victory. “That was a fun game,” said Laaperi. “They must have had a ‘Pack the Gym’ fundraiser because everyone was wearing black t-shirts and waving black towels. The atmosphere was something we needed to see for the playoffs.”

The Islanders trailed after the first quarter, but hit eight three-pointers in the contest. “Our shots were going and theirs weren’t,” Laaperi offered as an explanation for the victory.

Hebner had 14 points and Hebert added 17. Other scorers included Harley Ralph with 10, Luke Gillingham with six points, Schmitt with three points and Chris Banks with two. Schmitt had eight rebounds to lead Coronado. Hebert had five steals and Schmitt also contributed three assists.

“Justin went back to his all-around game,” Laaperi said of Hebner. “He had some steals, some rebounds and some assists. Schmitt got in foul trouble and we had to use Jordan Jacobs in the second and third quarters. We used Jordan on their big guy Christian Hayward, a 6-4, 300-pound defensive lineman who is going to USC. Jordan played well.”

The Islanders have three Central League games remaining and hold a three-game lead over Madison in the standings. Since Coronado has defeated Madison twice in their two league meetings this season, the Islanders have essentially won the league title already.

On a historic note, both Hebner who is a senior and Hebert a junior, passed Randy Nixon’s career total of 1,090 points scored during his Islander days. Through games of last week, Hebert currently stands at 1,143 points scored and Hebner is at 1,119.

This week the Islanders have just one game scheduled, a Tuesday home game against Clairemont. Tip-off time will be at approximately 4:45 pm.

CHS Girls Basketball Bests Both Crawford and Point Loma

“It never gets old to win,” said CHS Girls Basketball Head Coach Toler Goodwin, after his team defeated Crawford and Point Loma last week. “The part that gets old is maintaining a reality as to where you are and what you have to work on.” The second half of that thought can be attributed to the fact that the Islanders handed Crawford a 56-4 loss in the first of the two Central League games last week. And yes the ‘4’ is not a typo.

All of the Islanders played and all of the Islanders scored, led by Peri Curtis with 18 points. Nicollette Abrantes contributed 10 points, Alex Evans added nine, Samantha Kirk scored six points, Camille Wilson and Cory De Marco added five each, with Rachel Brennan and Meganne Weissenfels chipping in two points each.

“Camille played really well,” added Goodwin. “She had five assists and four steals to go with her five points. Cory had four assists and five steals.”

Clearly the more important contest was the road game at Point Loma Friday evening, which found the Islanders coming out on top 46-25. The Pointers employed a now-familiar tactic against Curtis, who is the Islanders leading scorer. They played a box-and-one, where a team’s best defender will guard Curtis one-on-one, while the rest of the team plays a zone defense.

“Point Loma did that to us the first time we played them and we worked our way through that,” Goodwin explained. “We put some things in place against Point Loma that gave Peri some good looks. Evans had a big game with 14 points, 16 rebounds and seven steals. We didn’t have Alex the first time we played them. We thought they might give us that and they did. Everything they tried to take away, we had an answer for it.”

Curtis finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Abrantes scored nine points, with Kirk adding six points, Weissenfels had three points, with Brennan and Wilson adding two each.

Goodwin elaborated on the Point Loma game. “It’s hard to take Evans off the floor when she is playing as well as she is. Weissenfels was pretty awesome. She and Kirk did a great job defensively. Meganne had seven steals and on four of them she just ripped the ball from the other girl’s hands. Meganne generates defense and Samantha has longer arms and can do some things defensively.”

Tuesday Coronado travels to Clairemont for a 4:30 pm game, for their lone contest of the week. That sets up the game on Tuesday, Feb. 15, when Coronado (16-7, 8-1 in the Central League) hosts Kearny (12-6, 8-0) in a game where the Islanders will go for a shot at the league co-championship.

Islander Girls Water Polo Has Challenging Week

Last week we discussed the fact that the Coronado Girls Water Polo Team is playing a tough non-conference schedule.  They also play in the Western League, the toughest circuit in San Diego County. When you are having a challenging year, the schedule can beat a team up. Every team the Islanders have played from outside of San Diego County has been ranked in the top four or five teams in Orange County.

Last week the Islanders played seven games and posted a 1-6 mark, but were in several of the games they lost. First up was a 7-2 setback Tuesday on the road at Cathedral Catholic. The Islander goals were scored by Shelby Couture and Hannah Green, with assists coming from goalie Brooke Bernardy and Lauren Carroll. Bernardy was credited with eight saves.

“We played passively,” said Head Coach Dave Throop. “In my mind the game was important for playoff seeding. Our playoff road will be a little more complicated than it might have been with a higher seed.”

Wednesday things didn’t get any easier when the Islanders hosted The Bishop’s School and fell to the Knights 7-3. Green, Couture and Kendall Hoshko accounted for the Islander goals, while Bernardy had 14 saves and two steals. “The game never really felt out of hand until the final three minutes,” Throop said. “We were down 5-2 at the end of the third quarter and it is hard to recover, especially when you are inexperienced. I felt pretty good about the game. We had seven different players take shots and our offense was balanced. We started with some nice ball movement and then we wouldn’t shoot. The finishing phase was the difference. Our five-on-six (man down) defense needs to get better. I felt we did some good things.”

Then it was out of the frying pan and into the fire as Coronado played in the SoCal Invitational in Irvine. In the first contest, Coronado lost to Edison High School 17-8. “The disappointment was that we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” said Throop of the game.

Kendall Martin and Carroll scored twice each, with Couture, Hoshko, Candyce Day and Jaicey Tyler scoring once each. Couture and Martin had three assists each and Carroll had three steals.

After one game Thursday, the Islanders played twice on Friday. The first contest was a 10-5 victory over Long Beach Poly. Couture scored four goals, which was nicely matched by her four steals. Martin added three goals and two assists, and single goals came from Sarah Alfano, Hoshko and Day. Bernardy earned the victory in goal and had 11 saves.

Friday’s second game was against Irvine High School, the tournament host and marked the third time the teams have played each other this season, with each team winning once. This time the Islanders came out on the short end of a 7-6 result, which included three Coronado shots on goal in the last five seconds of the game. A score there would have sent the game into overtime. Martin and Couture scored twice each, with Hoshko and Carroll scoring once each. Rebecca Bayer and Alfano were both credited with a steal, and Bernardy had 11 saves. Throop quoted the Irvine coach as saying, “Coronado is the most snake-bitten team he has seen.”

Saturday’s schedule began with a familiar opponent in the pool and for the second time this week Coronado played Cathedral Catholic. “It was nice to play them in a neutral site without referees who don’t get caught up in the moment,” said Throop of the rematch. This time the Islanders lost 8-7 in overtime. Coronado was paced by three goals from Carroll, two from Couture, and single goals from Martin and Hoshko. Tyler contributed two steals and an assist, and Kaitlin Seay drew an exclusion. Bernardy had 14 saves in goal.

“We were up 7-6 with 20 seconds left in regulation,” recounted Throop. “We had an exclusion with 10 seconds left and they scored on a man-up with two seconds remaining to send it into overtime. I was bummed we lost, but I felt good about the effort. A lot of girls contributed who haven’t contributed in the past.”

The final game of the SoCal Tournament for the Islanders started 90 minutes later and Coronado lost 15-2. That was Coronado’s seventh game in five days. “Everything kind of caught up to us,” said Throop. “After the game I said, the only criticism is that you didn’t give yourself a chance to win. Everything else was positive. We did a great job with our attitude and effort and we played great together in a lot of situations.”

This week the Islanders complete their regular season with two games.  Wednesday Coronado travels to Bishop’s for a 4 pm contest. Their final game of the regular season will be Friday at Foothill High School at 4 pm. “The Foothill game is a chance for us to play out of the area and try a few things,” said Throop. “Then we’re looking at a two to three week period of focusing on the playoffs.”

CHS Water Polo Alumni Return to Area for Triton Tourney

Following my long-held belief that it’s a water polo world and we’re just players in it, the UCSD Triton Women’s Water Polo Tournament will be held this weekend and nine CHS Girls Team members will be returning to San Diego to participate.

The alumnae include:  Katie Estrada (CHS '07), Hannah Sebenaler (CHS '08), and Kelly Ronimus (CHS '10) representing UCLA; Alex Adamson (CHS '09) from the University of Michigan; Natalie Stringer (CHS '10) from Marist College; Alana Burgess (CHS '08) representing San Diego State University; Carly Hoshko (CHS '08) and Maddie Murphy (CHS '10) from the University of Maryland and Hillary Estrada (CHS '10) from U.C. Irvine.

Athletes Make Good Students at CHS

In light of the recent discussions surrounding the film “The Race to Nowhere,” which raises issues surrounding homework and extra-curricular activities, CHS Athletic Director Robin Nixon whipped out her calculator and provided some statistics regarding athletes and academics.

“We currently have 146 athletes competing in five sports and on 12 teams (varsity, junior varsity, freshman and/or novice level),” Nixon said in a recent E-mail. “Their weighted grade point average is 3.5. The Girls Varsity Basketball Team led the way with an average GPA of 3.99 and the Girls Varsity Soccer Team was close behind at 3.97. All of the teams had an average of 3.0 or better. I knew that our student-athletes were doing well and I was extremely impressed by all of their achievements. I congratulate them all and know that we are all proud of all that they achieve.”