At one of the largest water polo tournaments, Coronado got the opportunity to compete among some of the greatest schools across the nation. America’s Finest City Tournament took place over three days, “featuring 32 teams, 82 games, at four different pools,” says Coach Castillo. “We went from having played three games by Friday to nine games by Sunday (tripling our games by the end of the weekend).”
Prior to the tournament, last Thursday’s match against Los Osos High School, up in the Irvine area, resulted in a close win of 9-8. Unfortunately, senior Nate Smith, one of the varsity’s top players, experienced an injury during the game. In a follow-through shot, Nate was concussed and had to sit out for last weekend’s tournament.
After that tight game against Los Osos, Coronado came prepared to the tournament to compete against one of the top schools in Hawai’i, ‘Iolani School. Winning by a fair margin, Coach Castillo was able to play some of the younger athletes in this game. These high-performing players dominated with a final score of 13-9.
The second game of the tournament was against Saint Francis High School from the Bay Area. Playing in one of the top leagues in California, this win proved to be favorable for Coronado. The score was 9-8, ranking Coronado 8th in the tournament, which allowed them to continue competing in the tournament at their home pool. “This also allowed us to play against all the really good teams in the tournament,” commented Coach Castillo.
On Sunday, Coronado faced Oaks Christian High School, the No. 2 Ranked team in the tournament. “The whole game was close,” said Coach Castillo. “It was 1-0 at the end of the first quarter, 5-3 at halftime, and 11-8 was the final score in favor of the other team.” The Oaks Christian coach is very knowledgeable, having experience coaching for Pepperdine University. As a whole, the team had many strengths in terms of their condition, being strong swimmers and water polo players in general.
The second game that day, against Vista High School was an interesting game. The first half was extremely tight, causing Coach Castillo to substitute fewer people. By the end of the first half, the score was tied up at 7-7, but since substitutes were seldom, fatigue began to affect the players in the pool by the second half. The final score was 14-7, which was the second loss for Coronado that day.
At 7 PM, Coronado was up to play Carlsbad. “We had a long break between the second and third game, which gave our players some time to rest,” Coach Castillo said. Throughout the entire game, the score was tied. Eventually, the clock ran out, forcing the game to go into overtime. At this point, it was sudden death, meaning that all the players had to step it up. Coronado won that game with 11 goals to 10.
Overall, Coronado finished in seventh place in the America’s Finest City Tournament.
Next Game:
Thursday, September 28 vs. Cathedral Catholic High School at Cathedral Catholic High School @ 5:00 PM
