All eyes were fixated on a matchup between two of San Diego’s best girls’ lacrosse teams coming out of the CIF Open Division playoffs on May 16, when the fourth-seeded Coronado Islanders faced off against the top-seeded Torrey Pines Falcons.
The semifinal match was a highly anticipated rematch for two teams that hadn’t seen each other since late March, when the Islanders stole a game on the road by beating the Falcons 8-7.
However, it was the Falcons coming out on top this time around, securing a 15-14 victory in a game that held far more significance.
The story of the year for the Islanders has been the impact their freshmen class has made on the field, and this continued in the biggest game they had played this season.
A dozen goals from freshmen
Of the 14 goals the Islanders scored, 12 of them came from freshmen.
And half of those freshmen scores came from Sydney Dunn, who continued her impressive playoff run with an assist to go with her offensive output.
Dunn also scored multiple times against La Jolla in Coronado’s first-round playoff victory.
Meanwhile, junior Lauren Hundley was active on the offensive side for Coronado, with two goals and four assists.
Torrey Pines responds
Torrey Pines responded to the aggressive offensive attacks from Coronado with plenty of goals of their own.
Falcons’ junior, Laurel Gonzalez, had multiple goals that kept Torrey Pines in the game until they were ultimately able to pull away with the one-goal victory.
Coronado knew they had their work cut out for them, as Torrey Pines had won 11 of its last 13 matches heading into the semifinal, and the Falcons were 8-3 at home.
Primed for next year
According to Coronado’s head coach Caroline Carlson, the Islanders played very well but the Falcons’ efforts kept it tight all match.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the win this time, but it just fueled our fire even more for next season,” said Carlson.
After breezing through the Division 1 playoffs a year ago to win the title, the Islanders and their young core were moved to the Open Division where they managed to hold their own.
Carlson noted it was encouraging to see how well the younger girls on the team handled the pressure and made noise offensively.
Blistering season start
To earn the fourth seed in the playoffs this year, the Islanders kicked off their season with a blistering hot 6-0 start.
Taking down teams such as San Marcos and Scripps Ranch solidified Coronado as a legitimate contender in its division.
They came back down to earth after that, but still went 8-4 in league and proved to be one of Open Division’s best teams.
“The future is bright.”
-Coach Caroline Carlson.
“The future is bright,” said Carlson.
From their goalie to some of their top goal scorers, the core talent from this year’s squad will be back competing for Coronado next season as the Islanders look to hang another championship banner up.
