In what Coronado High School Girls Varsity Soccer Head Coach Miles Ramirez described as "one of the greatest high school soccer games in a long, long time," the Islanders defeated Our Lady of Peace 1-0 on penalty kicks to advance to the semi-finals of the Division III CIF Playoffs Saturday.

The penalty kicks occurred after the expiration of 80 minutes of regulation time, which in turn were followed by two overtime periods of 15 minutes each.

There were several keys to the victory, but the most obvious was the play of Goalie Jamie Klages and the fact that she made contact with all five Pilot penalty kicks, blocking three of the shots. "Their first kicker was Amy Epsten," Ramirez said of the USD-bound senior who scored 38 goals this season. "Jamie got both hands on the shot and the shot crossed the goal line by a finger nail. That play sent the message that Klages meant business."

Penalty kicks are converted a huge percentage of the time, even on the prep level. Blocking three penalty kicks from point blank range is just short of miraculous. "Jamie just read the shooter," said Ramirez. "She has great strength and explosiveness in her legs. Her unbelievable leg strength drove her to the ball. It’s really hard to teach that, because so much of it is instinct, and her instinct took over."

Proving that success in soccer is largely due to team effort, Ramirez made special note of the play of the Islander defenders assigned to the high-scoring Epsten. "The difference in the game was the play of Rhett Chase and Sasha Vido marking and doubling Epsten and taking her out of the game. Rhett and Sasha never gave her room to breathe." Another key play in regulation time was turned in by Maureen Mulvey, who prevented an OLP goal off a free kick.

A little coaching strategy from Ramirez didn’t hurt either. Islander senior standout Dayna Queisser was injured in the Islanders 3-0 victory over Santana earlier in the week, causing Ramirez to make some adjustments. "Dayna marked their sweeper," said Ramirez. "Their sweeper and their forward are their best players. Dayna had a couple of breakaways and the strategy worked. It threw them (OLP) off of their normal game."

"Kelly Walsh, Ashley Walsh and Rachel Poe all had phenomenal games," Ramirez added. "Kindall Caldwell played well. Everyone chipped in. Our players stepped up and theirs didn’t. This team is unbelievable. We’re playing our best soccer at the right time."

Mulvey, Sasha Vido and Queisser converted their penalty kicks to win the game for the Islanders.

The 3-0 victory first round victory over Santana last Tuesday was achieved very simply. The Coronado defense never let the Sultan offense get started. A scant four minutes into the game, Queisser found the back of the net on a nice feed from Caldwell and 26 minutes later Ashley Copp scored the first of her two goals. With 4:30 remaining in the contest, Copp finished the scoring and the Islanders were through to the quarterfinals and OLP.

Ramirez said of Tuesday evening’s opponent, "Santana is not a bad team at all. We swarmed all over them. We had some scoring chances early and we put the game away."

The Islanders now play Westview High School in an early-week semi-final playoff contest. Ramirez provided a preview of the game. "The playoff experience of this team (Coronado) is very deep. This is the class that won the CIFs one year. Our advantage is in knowing how to win the game."

The Boys Soccer Team, which finished the year banged up physically, fell to San Dieguito Academy 1-0 in their CIF Division III playoff game last week. However, they did win the unofficial race to have the first post season banquet, which was held at the Mandarin Café Chinese Restaurant. Pass the sweet and sour pork and let’s go to the Junior Varsity awards as announced by JV Head Coach Jerry Ruiz:

Most Inspirational – Patrick Murphy; Most Improved - Armando Garcia; Most Valuable Defensive Player – Fabiano Sarmiento; Most Valuable Offensive Player – Jake Vita; and Most Valuable Player – Josh Watts.

The Varsity Awards as presented by Head Coach Brian Hiatt Aleu included: Team Captains – Stuart Gallant, Ryan Haig and Phil Bond; Most Inspirational – Gallant; Most Improved – Travis Lindsay; Most Valuable Defensive Player –Haig; Most Valuable Offensive Player – Gallant; Most Valuable Player – Bond.

Bond and Gallant were named to the All-Harbor League First Team. Haig and Buddy Marshall were named Second Team All-Harbor League.

The Boys Soccer Team finished in a strong fashion this season, winning seven of their last eight matches and tying for second place in the Harbor League. They finished with a fine 14-5-2 overall record.

The CHS Girls Water Polo Team finished their season with a 9-3 loss to The Bishop’s School in the Division II semi-finals. Bishop’s went on to defeat USDHS 12-7 in the Division II finals.

Head Coach Dave Throop knew it would be an uphill battle against the Knights, who finished the season with a 29-2 mark. "The first part of the game went how I anticipated it would. Bishop’s was emotional and forcing things. We were preaching to our kids to stay with the game plan. We were down 1-0 at the end of the first quarter. Nothing grandiose, but we had a couple of opportunities that we didn’t convert. In the second quarter, the game started getting away from us a little bit."

Coronado trailed 4-1 at halftime and Throop said of his team, "we didn’t execute as well as we could have. We just didn’t take care of our end." One of the Islander’s key players, Elizabeth Hopkins, got in early foul trouble which didn’t help the cause.

The three Islander goals in the game were scored by Kelly Phelps, Sandra Fernandez and Hopkins. "A lot of our young girls got a lot of quality time in the game," Throop added. "Kelly Phelps, Katie Estrada and Natalia Lopez all had a chance to play."

The conclusion of any season is always bittersweet for the coaches. Throop noted that he had coached senior Mary Lowe for six and one-half years, at both the club and varsity levels. "It’s always tough when it’s over," Throop added. The CHS Girls Water Polo Team finished the season with a record of 14-15.

The Girls Basketball Team, now 21-7 on the season, hosted Imperial Saturday evening for their Division IV Quarterfinal tilt and came away with a 55-37 victory. Senior forward Janelle Kuhlow scored the first six points of the game to stake the Islanders to an early lead which they never relinquished. Kuhlow finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds in the contest.

Imperial made a run at the Islanders at the conclusion of the first quarter and the beginning of the second stanza, closing the score to 16-15 with 7:23 remaining in the second quarter. Senior center Alexis Castro put an end to the Tigers rally with two free throws, a lay up, an assist on a lay up by Amanda Marks, which in turn was followed by another Castro lay up.

In short, Castro dominated the game, by scoring 26 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, making seven steals, dishing out five assists and blocking four shots. Anne Marie Strohbeck added six points and four rebounds; Ashley Depfer and Marks had four points each, while point guard Vanessa Gosenheim played an aggressive floor game with six assists, three steals, and four rebounds.

The victory earned Coronado a semi-final berth in the Division IV playoffs to be played at The Bishop’s School Wednesday at 7 pm. Bishop’s is coming off of a 55-22 victory over Christian in their quarterfinal game.

"Bishop’s has good overall size," said Islander Head Coach Toler Goodwin. "The overall strength of their team is their athleticism and the play of their guards. We will have to play well to beat them and we’re going to need more than Alexis. Everybody is going to have to be on top of their game. They’re a good team and we will need to play well to beat them."

Coincidentally, The Boys Basketball Team also defeated Imperial in their playoff game and they will face The Bishop’s School in the semi-finals. Their tilt is an early-week game that will be played in Coronado.

The Boys reached the semis by virtue of a 46-45 victory over the Tigers, a surprising result when you consider that the Islanders lead 17-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Islander offense short-circuited in the beginning of the second frame, according to Head Coach Sandy Dillon. "We had three minutes in the second quarter when we turned the ball over and they got back into it. Then the battle was on."

Senior Brett Milke led the charge for the Islanders, scoring 21 points and contributing five rebounds and three assists. Other contributors included Jimmy Harrison with seven points, Bobby Talley and Tommy Corcoran with five points each, and Tony Moore and Julian Cole each with four points. Moore was whistled for two early fouls and was never able to get in the flow of the game offensively.

The Islanders for the season are now converting their free throw opportunities at a 73 percent success rate, which is an especially high rate for a prep team and good for any level. In fact that percentage is better than the current efforts of four NBA teams including: the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trailblazers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards.

Unlike the Girls who have not played Bishop’s this season, the Boys have faced the Knights twice, splitting the two previous battles. The first contest was in the third game of the season, won handily by Bishop’s. One week later the Islanders defeated Bishop’s 53-35 in the Kiwanis Tournament.

Dillon said of the second meeting, "it was close until they tried to press us and we ran away from them. We played pretty well in the second game. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd we are going to have for the game."

Assistant Coach and Head Scout Greg Johnson earned praise from Dillon for his efforts on the road last week. "Greg was willing to go and scout the Bishop’s vs. La Jolla Country Day game for us Friday night, rather than be a part of our quarterfinal win here. Greg is just really great and has been a great contributor to the program."