ENCINITAS — With an enrollment of about 950, Coronado High School is modest in size. But there’s nothing modest about Coronado’s girls lacrosse program. In a sport that was first sanctioned by the CIF San Diego Section in 2002, the Islanders had hung three section championship banners coming into the season.
Make that four. In a thoroughly dominating performance, Coronado, ranked 10th in the nation by MaxPreps, defeated Cathedral Catholic 16-4 on Friday night to win the Open Division title at San Dieguito Academy.
The win completed a 19-0 season for Coronado.
How dominating were the Islanders? With 2 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Coronado had fired 11 shots. All 11 found net with the Islanders jumping to an 11-0 lead. It was 10-0 with 3:56 to play in the first period, resulting in a running clock.
Of the start, Coronado coach Caroline Carlson said: “I mean, you can’t ask for anything better.”
“They came ready to go,” said Cathedral coach Sam Duerr, whose team finished 15-6. “They came hot from the start. They played almost a perfect game.”
The teams faced each other twice during the regular season with Coronado winning tight games, 12-11 and 14-10. The difference this time was the Islanders’ shooting accuracy.
“We weren’t as accurate those first two games,” said Carlson. “We practiced our shooting. We knew it’d be a big factor for us.”
Carlson’s players were expecting another close match.
“Right from the warmups, we knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Breck Dunn, who led Coronado with five goals. “We were super ready. Super locked in.”
Coronado wasted no time putting the ball into the net. Grace Elardo scored 20 seconds in to make it 1-0. With 1:59 gone it was 3-0. Barely halfway through the first period, with 5:51 to go, the lead swelled to 8-0.
Coronado led 11-0 after the first period and Cathedral would never get closer than nine goals.
Elardo scored three goals. Sydney Dunn and Siena Kieffer scored two. The Coronado team is deep, with eight players having scored 10 or more goals coming into the title game. Eight players scored against the Dons.
Coronado lost the Open championship game last year to Torrey Pines, 12-9. The loss did not sit well.
Said Carlson: “We were hungry.”
“From the second last year’s game ended, we knew we were going to come back and win it this year,” said Breck Dunn. “We were so excited. We wanted this so badly.”
The Open Division was created in 2013. Coronado’s 12-goal winning margin is the largest in Open Division history. The previous largest margin was Torrey Pines’ 15-5 win over Poway in 2017. The win marked Coronado’s first Open Division championship.
Carlson, meanwhile, is a Coronado lacrosse historian. She played on the Islanders’ 2011 and ’12 Division 2 championship teams.
“This is, by far,” said Carlsson, “the best team the program has ever seen.”
“The reason why is because our team is so close,” said Elardo. “Our chemistry is so good. We’re best friends and we play for each other.”
