After a long and surely appreciated two-week break for the holidays, all Coronado High School athletics will return to action in the coming days. The Coronado Islanders boys’ soccer program will be one of those teams returning to play.

Through the first seven games of the 2024-2025 season, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the boys in green and black. A three-game winning streak to open the season, which featured streaks of dominance, was quickly backed up by a disappointing three-game losing streak where the Islanders looked lost.

Prior to kicking their feet up for two weeks for the holidays, Coronado did manage to nab a key win against Clairemont, breaking their three-game skid and giving them some much-needed confidence to build on.

And with upcoming games against Valhalla and Mt. Carmel, Islanders Head Coach Jeff Roe hopes his boys return from the break with a mindset to attack.

“We had some good training sessions over the break, and we had everyone back on Monday. I think the chemistry is there, and the connection is there,” said Roe. “The guys know these are the last few games before we jump into our league schedule, so they know it’s a must-win. They’re taking it very seriously.”

As one might suspect, after giving up four-plus goals in three of their last four matches, much of the team’s work during the break centered on continuing to refine their defensive play, specifically improving small things in their communication and being more decisive.

Meanwhile, on offense, Coronado continues to emphasize set-pieces. The Islanders have scored 18 goals this season, and nearly a third of them have come off set-pieces. Aiden Trieschman has been the lead horse for this Islanders attack, but Roe hopes to see others take a step forward with him this week.

“We worked on adding some new set pieces that were hoping to break out in these upcoming matches,” noted Roe. “If you can look at our film, you can see how effective of a set-piece team we are.”

Along with the Islanders looking, more so needing, to pick up wins against Valhalla and Mt. Carmel, Roe also views these games as an opportunity for his players to establish their role and solidify their way into the regular starting nine they will use come league play.

“We are going to try a couple of new things and make sure we get everyone in there to see where our depth is,” commented Roe. “We’re also looking to see some bigger performances on the attack this week from Noah Santos with his speed; we’re also looking to do a better job of getting him in space. And we would love to have Diego Villasenor find the back of the net to get him going.”

Coronado’s matches this week will come against two programs that have yet to notch a win this season. On paper, these are games that the Islanders should roll in. But the Islanders, a team less than a calendar year from winning just one game themselves, know not to take these contests lightly.

“Anyone can beat anyone on any given day, and with what we went through last year, the guys don’t want to be the team that gives a team their first or only win,” noted Roe.

Both Islanders matches this week will be on the road, with their first of the week being a road trip to Valhalla on January 7 before hitting the road again to take on Mt. Carmel on January 10. Both matches are set to start at 7:00 p.m.