The game ebbed and flowed, but unfortunately for the Coronado High School boys’ lacrosse team, the second home game of the season resulted in a loss to La Costa Canyon, 11-9.
The Islanders, a No. 5 seed in the CIF open division last season, started the game off poorly, quickly finding themselves in a 4-0 hole to the 2025 open division runners-up Mavericks.
Coronado scored two goals to cut the lead in half to get it to 4-2, traded goals back and forth to get it to 6-3, but closed the half out strong, making it 6-5. Junior attacker and captain Jack Perry of the Islanders scored a pair to help drive the offensive attack, and senior midfielder Leo Ursitti capped the first half with a win in the faceoff that led to a runout straight to the goal for a score.
“I love the fact that we never go away,” said head coach Alex Cade. “I love the fact that we maintain composure throughout games and big moments.”
That composure showed itself again at the end of the second half, but not before a rough stretch in which the Islanders gave up six unanswered goals.
But shortly into the fourth quarter, Coronado started to shift the momentum. Sophomore attacker James Nevitt put up a shot attempt, rebounded his own shot and netted it. Freshman attacker Finley Maske scored one on an assist from Perry. Senior defenseman and captain Leo Salata scooped the ball on Coronado’s end before going coast-to-coast for the score. Perry ended the Islanders’ scoring on the night with yet another goal, this time assisted by sophomore midfielder Jaxton Preston.
This loss marks two in a row for the Islanders, after a loss to Cathedral Catholic – the No. 3 seed in last year’s open division – on Feb. 24.
“These are early days for our team,” Cade said. “I’m really happy with effort in practice. They’re focused on the next play and the next thing and getting better … I hate losing. We lost to two good teams. At the end of the year, those will be two very good teams and I think we’re showing signs of being right there with them.”
Cade is optimistic about the defensive side of the ball for the Islanders. Despite the high scoring, Coronado also came up with long defensive stands that ended in big stops.
“We’ve got a great core defense … I think we’re still going to continue to work on our defensive identity. We’re giving up a few too many goals right now, but again, it’s early days.”
Despite the 1-2 start to the season, Cade feels good about where the Islanders are at, and the potential to build off a solid ‘25 campaign.
“We’re right in the running for getting to a CIF final. We’ve just gotta keep the work, keep improving.”
The Islanders’ next game is on Saturday, Feb. 28 at home against Bishop Manogue High School. The game starts at 1 p.m.
