During their match on January 18th, 2023 the Coronado Islanders took on Academy of Our Lady of Peace (AOLP) in what would be a nail biter. All through the competition, there was constant drive from both teams. AOLP was the team that capitalized on the Islanders’ mistakes and turned them into points and winning 1-0, due to a penalty kick made in the first half.
With AOLP being the only one to score, and only scoring once, it may seem like a boring game. However, it was not. As each second was counted on the clock there was action going all around. Shot after shot, save after save. Putting pressure on the AOLP defense was Josie Jenkins. Receiving the ball numerous times, she attempted to cross it into the goal for her teammates, but nearly every time it would be cleared out by AOLP. Unfortunate for the Islanders not succeeding from the opportunities given, but the competition was still on.
Senior Emily Kuite helped lead the Islanders with her energy. Along with being very vocal and communicating well with her teammates, there wasn’t a second she was not trying to sprint to receive a pass, or steal the ball. She left everything she had to give on the field.
On the defensive side, the Islanders were locking down AOLP. Leading that defensive stand were Zoe Searles and goalie Olivia Schoettke. Zoe was everywhere defensively. She had many steals and cleared the ball very well to help give the offense a chance at scoring. Along with that, Olivia only let up the one goal, which was a penalty kick from AOLP. That singular goal scored in the 14th minute was the game changer as no one scored for the rest of the night. The final score was 1-0, with AOLP taking the win.
Post-game, goalie Olivia Schoettke was kind enough to give a statement on how she thought the game went.
She shared, “The team needs to improve most on our ability to work as a unit. We have amazing players individually, yet sometimes we forget to use one another.” The way she said they could achieve the unity was “knowing where our own strengths and weaknesses lay and building off others to achieve our end goal.”
Their record on the season is now 5-3-3 and 2-0 in league play.
The next home game for the Islander girls varsity soccer team will be Wednesday, January 25 at 6pm against Cathedral Catholic.
