On Tuesday, January 24, the Coronado Islander girls water polo team faced off against one of the nation’s top-five ranked teams, The Bishop’s School. With their history and reputation of success in the water, the Islanders were prepared to take on the Knights with as much force as they could muster.
The first period was lights out by the Bishop’s Knights as they fired eight goals past goalie Harper Gilbert while the Islanders themselves were unable to score. Not surprisingly, the Islander defense turned it up a notch during the second and only allowed two goals to slide past, making it 10-0 at halftime.
The girls had a handful of opportunities to score during the third, most notably by junior Megan Ledgerwood and senior Sofia Goicoechea, but their shots would either deflect off the goal or be saved by the goalie.
Finally, in the last period, junior Caraline Wastila scored the first Islander goal. Just a few seconds later, Ledgerwood would hurl one into the back of the net to put the girls back in good spirits. However, the early deficit loomed too large to overcome, and the Islanders would fall to the Knights 16-2.
There was much to take away from this devastating loss, but one of the highlights of the night was the Islander defense, which consisted of juniors Kyla Granados and Allie Ralston. Both girls put up great efforts against the strong Knights offensive, and that is something to commend.
The Islanders look forward to getting back in the winner’s circle at their next home game against La Jolla on Tuesday, January 31, at 4:30 PM.
