Needless to say, the Lady Islanders needed a spark to get things rolling back in the right direction. Well, last Friday night, that spark was found when the Islanders used a flurry of late second-half goals to take down long-time rival Point Loma High School 3-0, snapping their five-game skid.
While any meeting between the Islanders and Pointers is always poised to provide fireworks, the night’s most explosive moments would come in the game’s final 15 minutes.
After controlling possession and working the ball into dangerous areas for much of the second half, Coronado would finally find their first goal of the night in the 65th minute when Grace Messner would lace a ball off her left foot from 28 yards out that would sail over the head, and extended arms, of the Pointers’ goalie to give Coronado the 1-0 lead.
The momentum gained from Messner’s goal in the 65th would quickly be capitalized on. Just two minutes later, after the game’s first goal, Coronado would strike again in the 67th.
After a free-kick from senior Maren Hawley was poorly cleared by Point Loma, senior Katie Collins would find possession and send a beautiful cross to the far post. There, freshman Maya Oden would elevate and poke a header by the keeper into the bottom right corner of the net, extending the Islanders’ lead to 2-0 and causing the Islanders faithful in the stands to erupt once more.
The second goal in a four-minute time window clearly put a hamper on any hopes that Point Loma held for a comeback. Still, they would attempt to claw back into things by going to a full press. However, the Islanders play along their backline, and mid-field would not allow a solid look on goal for Point Loma in the game’s waning minutes.
In fact, it would be the Islanders who would add to their goal total. In the 75th minute, Coronado would hammer in the final nail in Point Loma’s coffin, firing a rocket into the top right corner of the net off the right foot of junior Brooklyn Parma to make it a 3-0 game.
Coronado’s win over Point Loma is the Islanders’ first win in the rivalry match-up since the 2020-2021 season. The win not only breaks up the team’s losing streak but also feels like a potential turning point here in the early part of the season.
This game gives Coronado a quality win over a CIF DI opponent and, more importantly, sets their league record at 1-0. The Islanders will return to action this week with yet another pivotal City Western League match-up, hitting the road to take on the 7-4-2 Cathedral Catholic Dons.
A traditional powerhouse, the Islanders are one of the few teams in the county that have found some recent success against the Dons, playing them tight in their last six meetings, going 1-2-3.
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