The 2021-2022 Coronado Islanders girls soccer season has been nothing short of remarkable. One thing left for them to do was to capture the CIF Division II Title Friday night vs. Sage Creek High School.
Coming off three straight wins as the higher overall seed, the Islanders rightly could come into the Championship match with confidence at a season-high. And that confidence showed early on.
To start Friday’s match, the Islanders did a fine job of controlling the pace and tempo of the game. Offensively they had several good looks at goal, one in the 12th minute from Samantha Christie, one in the 21st from Riley McGrath, and perhaps the most dangerous from Ella Oden in the 25th as the senior fired one just wide of the right post.
On the flip slide, the Islanders’ defense was also playing at a high level in the first half. Along the wings, Ava Worthy and Giana Quijano stifled the Sage Creek attacks and did a great job of getting balls forward to help the offense flow with ease.
Elsewhere along the backline, Lana Allari-Smith and Zoe Searles played with an extra level of aggressiveness as both Islanders had a field day in one on one defending and never shied away from contested balls.
And even when Sage Creek had a few shots on goal, Islander keeper Cadence Palmer stepped up to make a pair of fine saves in the 12th and 40th minutes.
However, despite the first half feeling as if the Islanders were dominating, the game remained tied 0-0 heading into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Islanders would keep applying offensive pressure. In the 45th and 55th minutes, the Islanders rattled off two more shots, by Christie and Ella Oden. But both would fail to get past the Sage Creek keeper.
Finally, in the 59th minute, there was a scoring break, unfortunately not for the girls in black and green. Following an Islanders’ corner, Sage Creek gained possession, ran a superb counter-attack, and netted a goal to put the Islanders behind 1-0 with 20 minutes to play.
In the final 20, the Islanders’ offense would generate several opportunities to tie the game. Xiomara McKenna made a pair of key runs in the 75th and 77th minutes and crossed two balls into the box, but her Islander teammates were unable to finish it off in both instances.
Just when the game seemed it may have slipped away from the Islanders, they found a way. In the 79th minute, Katelyn McGrath fired a shot that, while on its way, was hit by the hand of a Sage Creek defender, thus giving the Islanders a free-kick from just outside the box.
Katelyn McGrath stepped up and sent a low runner to Allari-Smith. The senior then tapped a pass to an awaiting Emily Kuite, who fired a shot beyond the keeper’s reach into the top left corner of the net, tying the game at 1-1 and successfully sending the game to overtime.
In the overtime period, the Islanders would control nearly every aspect of the game again. But just like the regulation period, they could not push a goal across, and as a result, the game was forced to a penalty shootout (PK).
Sadly the Islanders would fall in PKs 4-1, and Sage Creek took home the CIF DII Title.
Great season Islanders!
