The Coronado High School girls lacrosse team wrapped up its season on May 18 with a 12-9 loss against Torrey Pines in the CIF Open Division championship game.
Despite the defeat, head coach Caroline Carlson still looks back on the season as a “breakthrough year” for the program.
Going into playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Western League, the girls received a bye and were immediately placed in the semifinal round where they faced Cathedral Catholic High School.
Islanders defeat Cathedral Catholic in semifinals
Having played them twice during the regular season – winning once and losing once – the Coronado girls came into the game expecting a relatively even matchup.
“We were all ready to come out and kind of punch first,” said senior attacker Emilia Alpert. “We knew either way it was going to be a very competitive, hard game of lacrosse which is always the most fun game of lacrosse to play.”
According to Alpert and Carlson, the Islander midfielders played a key role in the game, winning draws and forcing Cathedral to think on their feet.
“The midfielders were on fire and awesome all night long, which really helped develop our fast breaks,” said Alpert. “Our defense had a lot of turnovers and really great backtracks which prevented some goals that could have really changed the score. Everyone really came together for that game.”
The Islanders were able to secure a 16-11 win against Cathedral, advancing them to the championship game.
CHS falls short against Torrey Pines in finals
Last year, Coronado was knocked out in the semifinals after a close 15-14 loss against Torrey Pines. After another loss to them during this year’s league play, the girls came into the finals with a game plan: draw controls and take possession.
“We did very, very well – probably the best we’ve done all season – on drawing controls,” said Carlson.
The girls were able to win 22 out of 24 draws.
While the Islanders were able to maintain a lead during the first quarter, Torrey Pines began applying pressure during the second period. The championship became a goal-by-goal battle as each team fought to tie the score and then take a lead. At one point, the Islanders were able to catch up after being down by four points.
Torrey Pines ended up winning the finals by a score of 12-9.
“They are an incredible, incredible team and they just unfortunately outplayed us at the end,” said Alpert. “I was really happy to see that everyone wanted it and I truly think we pushed the whole game.”
Islanders hungry for championship title
Despite falling short in the finals, Carlson said this season is a step in the right direction from last year where the girls were eliminated in the semifinals.
“We didn’t win it all, but we came very close and it was a very successful season,” said Carlson. “Everyone put a lot of hard work into this season and I’m really proud of them for that.”
Because the team is mostly an underclassmen team, Carlson likely will have many of the same players returning to the field next year – hungry for a title.
“The biggest goal is to win the Open Division championship,” said sophomore midfielder Sydney Dunn. “We’re here to win it, that’s why we’re all playing. Hopefully third time’s the charm.”
